UCSB  LIBRARY 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH  COIT 


A  MEMOIR 

OF 

Daniel  Wadsworth  Coit 

OF 

NORWICH,  CONNECTICUT 
1787-1876 


WFTH   THK   COMI'LTMHNTW    OF 


WILLIAM    O.    OILMAN, 


NORWICH  TOWN,  CONNECTICUT. 


fa 


UAMUKiDUli 

THE    UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
1909 


THE    STORY    OF 

"SOME    OF    THE    INCIDENTS    OF    THE 
EVENTFUL   LIFE  "  OF 

DANIEL  WADSWORTH  COIT 

RETOLD 
WITH   AFFECTIONATE    REMEMBRANCE 

FOR    HIS 

DESCENDANTS    AND    NEAR    KINDRED 
AND    ALL    WHO    CHERISH    HIS    MEMORY 

BY    ONE   OF    HIS   NEPHEWS 

IS    NOW    LOVINGLY    INSCRIBED 

TO 

DANIEL   COIT  OILMAN-* 

WHO    DIED    WHILE    IT    WAS    IN 
AT  LOWTHORPE,  NORWICH,  CONN 
OCTOBER    13,   1908 

BY    HIS    BROTHER 

W.  C.  G. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

A  MAN'S  own  story  of  his  life  is, 
or  ought  to  be,   the  most  in- 
teresting of  biographies.     He, 
himself,  a  great  part  of  the  events  he 
describes,  telling  what  he  has  seen  and 
heard  and  done,  holds  the  center  of  the 
stage  and  animates  the  scene. 

To  see  him  tell  the  story,  sitting  by 
his  own  fireside  or  under  the  elms  in 
the  summer  twilight,  to  listen,  and  to 
lead  him  on  by  questions  from  one  ad- 
venture to  another,  is  more  charming 
than  written  words ;  for  with  pen  in 
hand  he  sometimes  assumes  that  his 
readers  are  as  familiar  as  he  is  with 
the  causes,  the  events,  and  the  environ- 
ment that  governed  or  seemed  to  gov- 
ern him  in  critical  periods  of  his  life, 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

and  thus  he  leaves  them  in  the  dark 
as  to  facts  of  vital  interest.  Or  again, 
in  a  retrospective  mood,  he  may  dwell 
on  trivial  and  unimportant  matters, 
"  droll  legends  of  his  infancy/'  and  the 
like,  more  interesting  to  himself  than 
to  any  one  else,  that  might  be  called 
"Twice  told  tales  of  a  Grandfather." 

The  hero  of  this  memoir,  DANIEL 
WADSWORTH  COIT,  was  named  for 
his  father's  friend  and  companion  in 
Europe,  Col.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  of 
Hartford.  He  was  born  in  his  father's 
house,  "up-town,"  under  the  elms,  in 
Norwich,  Connecticut,  on  November 
the  twenty-ninth,  1787,  and  in  that 
house  he  died,  on  the  eighteenth  of 
July,  1876. 

It  is  noteworthy  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  chances  and  changes  of  a  life 
of  very  remarkable  adventure,  this  house 
was  his  home  for  most  of  his  years,  and 
still  more  noteworthy,  in  these  days  of 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH   COIT 

migration  and  inevitable  family  changes, 
that  not  only  he  himself,  but  his  father 
and  his  grandfather  and  his  younger 
son,  Daniel  Lathrop  Coit  the  second, 
a  youth  of  great  promise,  —  four  gen- 
erations,—  ended  their  days  under  the 
same  roof. 

In  the  year  1 877,  twelve  months  after 
his  death,  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life,  writ- 
ten by  his  brother,  Joshua  Coit,  of  New 
Haven,  was  printed  for  his  family.  This 
was  reprinted  ten  years  later,  together 
with  a  filial  tribute  by  his  son,  Charles 
Woolsey  Coit,  of  Grand  Rapids,  as  sup- 
plementary to  his  Autobiography,  in 
which  he  had  said  that  "at  the  re- 
peated solicitation  of  his  family  and 
friends  and  for  the  gratification  of  his 
children  he  had  jotted  down  some  of 
the  incidents  of  his  eventful  life."  This 
was  a  well-chosen  expression,  for  while 
of  course  no  man  can  continue  the  story 
of  his  life  from  year  to  year  to  the  very 

[3] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

end,  his  modesty  and  delicate  sense  of 
propriety  prevented  more  than  a  slight 
reference  to  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing "incidents  of  his  eventful  life,"  or 
entirely  suppressed  them. 

A  writer  in  the  "Atlantic  Monthly" 
quotes  a  witty  remark  that  "  besides  bi- 
ographies and  autobiographies  there  are 
ought-not-to-be-ographies."  The  auto- 
biography of  Daniel  Wadsworth  Coit  is 
not  open  to  the  latter  designation,  for  it 
occasions  no  regret  but  by  its  brevity. 
Our  knowledge  of  him  has  been  in- 
creased, however,  by  letters  to  his  fam- 
ily now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Charles 
W.  Coit,  and  of  his  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Edward  Wilder  Haines,  and  still  more 
from  letters,  greater  in  number  and  of 
equal  interest,  from  his  parents,  and 
brothers  and  sisters,  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  Lowthorpe. 

His  father,  Daniel  Lathrop  Coit,  who 
was  descended  from  John  Coit,  of  Salem, 
[4] 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH    COIT 

Massachusetts  (about  1630),  and  from 
the  Reverend  John  Lathrop,  a  victim 
of  persecution  in  England,  and  an  emi- 
grant to  Massachusetts  in  1635,  died  in 
the  year  1833  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine 
years. 

His  mother,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Captain  Ephraim  Bill,  was  descended 
from  John  Bill,  of  Boston  (1635),  and 
from  Simon  Huntington,  of  Saybrook 
and  of  Norwich  (1659).  She  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-nine  in  the  year 
1846. 

Among  his  ancestors  are  also  John 
Gager  and  Thomas  Adgate,  who  are 
enrolled  among  the  founders  of  Nor- 
wich (1659),  and  John  Perkins  and 
Joshua  Abel.  Such  ancestry,  good 
English  stock,  transplanted  to  new  soil, 
is  a  heritage  for  which  later  genera- 
tions may  congratulate  themselves. 

He  was  the  oldest  of  six  children, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  and, 

[5] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

unlike  some  families  who  seem  to  boast 
that  they  "enjoy  poor  health,"  serious 
illness  was  almost  unknown  among 
them,  and  the  average  of  their  ages  at 
death  exceeded  four  score  years.  It 
was  a  happy  family,  and  the  bond  of 
affection  established  in  childhood  was 
firm  to  the  end  of  their  days.  The 
house  on  the  hillside,  under  the  elms, 
where  they  were  born,  built  by  their 
father,  and  kept  in  repair  and  improved 
from  time  to  time,  remains,  after  nearly 
a  century  and  a  quarter,  in  the  posses- 
sion of  two  of  his  granddaughters,  and 
is  practically  unchanged  in  appearance 
both  without  and  within. 

In  June  it  was  as  delightful  then  as 
it  is  in  these  degenerate  days,  when  one 
shudders  to  think  of  their  winters  and 
winter  nights,  and,  worse  still,  of  the 
everlasting  spring ;  not  the  "  everlasting 
spring"  of  the  hymnal,  but  the  real, 
old  fashioned,  uncommonly  late  spring, 
[6] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

with  impassable  roads,  no  public  con- 
veyances, private  vehicles  quite  out  of 
commission,  the  meadows  bleak  and 
desolate,  and  the  wheels  of  industry 
stopped  by  the  ice-bound  water  courses. 
The  house  was,  indeed,  abundantly 
stored  with  provisions  and  raiment  and 
fuel,  but  there  were  no  steam  heaters, 
no  furnace,  no  kitchen  range  sending 
perpetual  streams  of  hot  water  to  every 
floor, — nothing  but  open  wood  fires 
which  must  be  carefully  banked  up  at 
bedtime  to  prevent  the  escape  of  a 
single  spark,  and  to  keep  a  few  coals 
alive  for  the  morning.  Happily,  when 
the  call  was  heard,  "  heap  on  the  wood, 
the  wind  is  chill,"  there  was  plenty  of 
"old  wood  to  burn/' 

There  was  no  evening  lamp  to  be 
lighted ;  the  "  astral "  had  not  yet  come 
into  use;  and  constant  nightly  experi- 
ment determined  how  far  a  little  candle 
could  shed  its  beams.  Providence  had 

[7] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

not  raised  up  Mr.  Rockefeller  as  a  light- 
bearer  to  the  whole  world  to  crush  his 
rivals,  the  poor  whales,  and  drive  them 
out  of  a  profitable  business  with  his 
standard  oil.  The  night  air  was  cold 
enough  for  the  requirements  of  modern 
advocates  of  the  refrigerative  treatment  of 
tuberculosis,  and  yet,  although  this  family 
escaped  it,  the  dreaded  white  plague  was 
not  unknown  in  the  town.  But  though 
they  knew  them  not  there  were  allevia- 
tions, for  they  were  spared  self-register- 
ing thermometers,  telling  how  cold  had 
been  the  night,  and  weather  bureau 
forecasts  of  a  colder  to-morrow ! 

His  boyhood  was  spent  in  Norwich, 
where,  and  at  the  adjacent  town  of  Lis- 
bon, he  attended  the  best  schools ;  but 
though  he  was  a  fair  scholar  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  his  best  education  was 
received  in  the  home  circle  under  the 
guidance  of  his  father,  whose  cultured 
mind  had  been  improved  by  foreign 
[8] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

travel,  and  under  the  sweet  influence  of 
his  devoted  mother. 

His  nearest  neighbors  were  his  own 
cousins,  the  Lathrops,  seven  bright  boys 
and  girls  whose  ages  differed  not  widely 
from  those  of  his  own  family.  Their 
mother,  Mrs.  Hannah  Bill  Lathrop, 
and  two  of  the  daughters  known  to 
the  present  generation  as  Mrs.  Emily 
Perkins  and  Mrs.  Hannah  Ripley  are 
still  held  in  affectionate  remembrance. 
There  were  other  Lathrop  cousins,  Coit 
and  Huntington  cousins,  and  Perits,  and 
a  host  of  cousins-once-removed,  many 
of  whom  were  his  schoolmates  and  near 
friends.  To  be  remembered  with  them 
also  is  Lydia  Huntley,  afterwards  Mrs. 
Sigourney. 

The  wise  man  of  Portland  in  the  east 
told  his  attractive  daughters  that  he 
knew  some  one  in  Norwich  who  had 
a  pair  of  rose-colored  spectacles  which 
would  bring  a  distant  relation  as  near 

[9] 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH   COIT 

as  a  second  cousin  !  Those  glasses  came 
down  from  a  former  generation  which 
had  proved  their  usefulness  in  a  wide 
family  circle. 

His  natural  preference  was  for  active 
life  out  of  doors ;  he  knew  the  hiding- 
place  of  the  big  trout  in  the  brook,  and 
many  a  quail  and  partridge  and  wood- 
cock fell  before  his  unerring  fowling- 
piece.  From  his  father  he  inherited  a 
love  for  practical  work  in  the  garden 
and  orchard,  and  these  pursuits,  not  less 
than  the  cold  winters,  strengthening  his 
constitution,  were  an  admirable  prepa- 
ration for  the  toilsome  and  perilous 
journeys  of  later  years. 

When  he  was  about  fourteen  years 
old,  in  1 80 1,  in  the  absence  of  his  father 
on  a  long  journey  to  Ohio,  he  was  quite 
the  man  of  the  house ;  and  keeping  a 
watchful  eye  on  affairs  generally,  and 
especially  on  the  garden,  he  made  fre- 
quent reports  to  his  father.  In  July 
[10] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

he  says :  "  The  garden  looks  as  well  as  it 
did  last  year ; "  and  again  he  speaks 
of  "  inoculating  the  peach  trees."  His 
father  replies :  "  Daniel's  account  of 
outdoor  transactions  affords  me  much 
pleasure,  not  only  that  the  things  men- 
tioned have  been  done,  but  that  he  is 
thoughtful  to  mention  them/' 

Without  quoting  largely  from  other 
letters,  extracts  from  a  letter  from  his 
mother  to  her  husband,  and  from  a 
letter  from  the  father  to  the  son,  will 
sufficiently  illustrate  the  family  relation 
at  that  time. 

Elizabeth  Coit  to  her  husband,  July 
21,  1801  : 

"  I  hope,  my  dear,  you  will  find  the  chil- 
dren have  made  some  improvement,  but  do 
not  expect  too  much  or  you  will  be  disap- 
pointed. I  feel  sometimes  almost  impatient 
with  the  slow  progress  they  make  when  I 
reflect  how  many  things  they  have  to  learn 
and  how  fast  time  flies,  and  I  very  sensibly 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

feel  my  incapacity  to  fill  up  their  time  to 
the  best  advantage.  I  cannot  sufficiently 
impress  on  their  minds  the  importance  of 
study  and  learning  while  they  are  young. 
Some  relaxation  I  know  they  require,  but  I 
am  frequently  at  a  loss  how  far  to  indulge 
them.  Daniel's  propensity  for  amusement 
is  very  great,  but  his  judgment  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  direct  his  choice.  Books  which 
afford  the  most  rational  amusement  he  does 
not  relish  alone,  and  I  have  little  time  to 
hear  him  free  from  interruption.  He  is  as 
attentive  to  my  business  as  I  could  expect, 
and  is  very  obedient,  as  are  all  the  children." 

Daniel  Lathrop  Coit  to  his  son 
Daniel,  aged  fourteen  : 

YOUNGSTOWN  (O.),  19  August,  i8oi. 

MY  DEAR  BOY, —  I  don't  know  but  you 
will  expect  a  letter  directly  to  you  during  my 
long  absence,  and  I  shall  be  well  satisfied  in 
writing  to  you  if  it  will  afford  you  either 
pleasure  or  advantage.  .  .  . 

I  take  great  satisfaction  in  learning  from 
your  mama,  and,  indeed,  from  your  own 

[12] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

letter  and  by  Col.  Huntington,  that  you 
are  so  attentive  to  the  concerns  of  the  family 
in  my  absence.  I  am  likewise  gratified  that 
Bristol  x  is  so  careful  and  attentive  in  matters 
of  a  domestic  nature ;  indeed,  I  ought  to 
have  commissioned  you  to  thank  him  that 
he  was  desirous  of  my  remembrance,  &c., 
thereby  manifesting  his  regard  for  me.  I 
therefore  do  it  now. 

We  ought  at  no  time  to  receive  any  favor 
or  civility  of  even  so  small  a  kind  without 
some  suitable  acknowledgment,  and  surely 
thanks  are  a  cheap  and  easy  return.  Of  this, 
my  dear,  I  wish  you  to  be  truly  sensible, 
and  that  every  species  of  ingratitude  is  a 
great  blot  in  the  character  of  any  person  pos- 
sessed of  reason  and  understanding.  .  .  . 
Always  be  ready  to  acknowledge  a  favor, 
and  to  repay  it  as  a  debt  of  honor  and  jus- 
tice. At  the  same  time  do  not  always  wait 
to  be  indebted  in  this  way,  but  be  as  ready 
to  grant  as  to  receive  a  favor,  remembering 

1  This  Bristol,  an  old  negro  slave,  an  inheritance  from 
Daniel  Lathrop  Coit's  aunt,  Madam  Green,  was  a  tole- 
rated tyrant  in  the  household.  He  it  was  who  refused  to 
recognize  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath  when  by  chance  there 
were  no  baked  beans  for  breakfast ! 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

that  if  we  even  sometimes  make  some  sacri- 
fices in  this  way  we  are  sure  to  be  repaid  in 
kind,  or,  what  is  of  more  consequence,  have 
an  approving  conscience,  which  is  at  all  times 
one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  happiness  a 
man  can  enjoy. 

I  think  I  can  truly  say  that  I  have  no 
more  fervent  and  anxious  desire  of  an  earthly 
nature  than  to  procure  for  your  mama  and 
my  children  as  great  a  share  of  happiness 
and  contentment  as  they  are  capable  of,  anil 
you  will  readily  agree  that  my  experience  is 
greater  than  yours,  and  that  the  advice  I 
give  you  in  order  to  promote  your  happi- 
ness must  be  more  safely  trusted  to  than 
your  own  opinion  where  it  shall  differ  from 
mine.  .  .  .  The  present  is  the  time  for  the 
cultivation  of  your  understanding  and  form- 
ing useful  and  good  habits,  and  you  may 
believe  me  when  I  assure  you  that  when 
once  good  habits  are  formed  they  will  be  as 
easily  practiced  as  bad  ones  and  will  afford 
infinitely  more  satisfaction.  Study,  then,  my 
son,  to  improve  your  mind  and  to  render 
yourself  by  kind,  affable,  and  agreeable  man- 
ners, pleasing  and  acceptable  to  all  whom 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

you  have  reason  to  respect  and  esteem.  .  .  . 
I  wish  you  to  be  convinced  that  if  you  set 
out  thus  early  in  life  with  an  inflexible  reso- 
lution, and  continue  to  pursue  it  with  steadi- 
ness, you  may  make  yourself  almost  whatever 
you  wish.  It  is  little  I  can  do  for  you ;  I 
can  just  point  out  the  road,  but  it  must 
be  your  own  exertion  that  shall  carry  you 
through  it.  I  feel  a  great  desire  that  you 
shall  become  agreeable  and  estimable  to  all 
your  acquaintance,  and  this,  I  know,  you 
can  easily  do,  and  that  to  effect  this  will 
be  the  most  ready  way  to  promote  your 
happiness. 

Your  studies,  I  hope,  you  will  regard  as 
of  great  importance,  for  on  them  will  depend 
in  a  great  measure  your  future  prospects  in 
life.  Learning  is  the  inlet  of  knowledge, 
and  by  knowledge  men  are  raised  above  the 
rest  of  creation,  and  a  few  among  men  above 
the  rest  in  Honor,  Respect,  and  Esteem. . . . 

Adieu,  my  son  ;  be  attentive  and  obedient 
to  your  mama,  and  endeavor  to  make  up  her 
loss  of  me  as  much  as  is  in  your  power. 

Your  loving  and  affectionate  Father, 

DANIEL  L.  COIT. 

[15] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

These  benign  influences  were  not  lost 
upon  the  "  Dear  Boy."  He  heard  the 
instructions  of  his  father,  and  forgot  not 
the  law  of  his  mother,  and  when  he 
was  old  he  did  not  depart  from  them. 

When  he  was  about  fifteen  years  old 
he  and  his  sister  Lydia  and  his  brother 
Henry  were  sent  to  Mr.  Hale's  school 
at  Lisbon  ;  his  parents,  with  the  younger 
children,  Maria,  Eliza,  and  little  Joshua, 
having  removed  to  New  York  in  con- 
sequence of  his  father's  business  engage- 
ments. Twelve  months  later  he  joined 
them,  and  after  a  few  months  with  Gil- 
bert and  John  Aspinwall,  merchants  and 
importers  of  dry  goods,  was  formally 
indentured  to  them  for  a  term  of  nearly 
five  years,  until  he  should  attain  his 
majority. 

The  indenture,  signed  and  sealed  by 
all  the  parties  to  it,  bound  his  employ- 
ers to  teach  him  "the  trade,  art,  and 
[16] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

mystery  of  a  merchant,"  —  he  on  his 
part,  and  his  father  for  him,  agreeing 
that  "  he  shall  of  his  own  free  will  and 
accord  his  master  faithfully  serve,  his 
secrets  keep,  and  his  lawful  commands 
everywhere  readily  obey ;  shall  not  con- 
tract matrimony ;  shall  refrain  from 
vice,  and  from  business  on  his  own 
account ;  and  in  all  things  shall  behave 
himself  as  a  faithful  apprentice  ought 
to  do  during  his  term  of  service."  His 
only  compensation  was  to  be  his  board 
and  washing.  The  theory  was  that  the 
employer  stood  in  the  place  of  a  parent 
to  the  apprentice,  was  interested  in  his 
welfare,  gave  him  special  opportunities 
for  advancement  and  improvement,  with 
a  commercial  education  that  was  a  full 
equivalent  for  his  services.  By  this 
system,  now  almost  obsolete,  except  as 
it  may  be  suggested  by  the  youthful 
experience  of  Admiral  Sir  Joseph  Porter 
in  "  Pinafore,"  he  received  a  training 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

that  was  invaluable  in  the  important 
and  complicated  transactions  in  which 
he  was  concerned  in  later  years.  The 
art  of  writing  a  faultless  business  letter, 
acquired  early  in  life,  was  an  accom- 
plishment not  to  be  despised,  in  which 
he  excelled. 

The  particular  duties  of  the  youngest 
clerk,  as  he  describes  them,  were  "  to 
open  the  store  at  an  early  hour,  to  sweep 
and  dust  the  floors,  to  make  fires  through- 
out the  winter,  and  not  infrequently 
to  roll  empty  hogsheads  and  barrels 
through  the  streets  for  packing,  and  to 
shoulder  and  carry  goods  from  one  part 
of  the  city  to  another."  If  the  hours 
were  no  more  than  sixty  minutes  long 
there  were  more  working  hours  in 
twenty-four  than  there  are  now,  and 
that  work  was  often  carried  well  into 
the  night  appears  by  letters  to  his  par- 
ents, written  when  he  was  "  so  sleepy 
he  could  hardly  keep  his  eyes  open." 
[18] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

He  was  desirous  of  acquiring  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  French  language,  and  there- 
fore changed  his  boarding-place  to  a 
family  where  it  was  spoken,  but  carried 
with  him  the  kind  interest  of  his  land- 
lady, who  offered  to  continue  to  mend 
his  clothes,  "  But,"  he  says,  "  of  course 
I  shall  not  think  of  letting  her.'* 

Replying  to  his  father's  suggestion 
that  he  should  avoid  bad  company,  he 
says: 

"  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  you  under 
apprehension  of  my  getting  acquainted  with 
bad  characters  here,  as  my  acquaintance  is 
very  limited,  and  I  have  been  more  confined 
at  home  this  winter  than  usual,  as  my  French 
has  required  my  attendance  evenings,  and  I 
have  no  other  time  to  myself.  I  have,  how- 
ever, to  thank  you  for  your  good  advice  on 
this  subject,  and  shall  always  be  very  thankful 
to  you  for  it." 

Before  proceeding  with  him  in  the 
next  steps  of  his  career  it  is  interesting 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

to  close  this  chapter  with  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  his  brother  Joshua  to 
his  nieces,  from  which  other  quotations 
will  be  made  hereafter. 

"  He  had  a  physical  organization  admi- 
rably adapted  to  what  he  took  in  hand.  His 
eye  was  quick,  keen,  and  true  as  an  Indian 
hunter's ;  his  hand  pliant,  dexterous,  and 
ready  in  all  the  manipulations  for  which  he 
had  occasion ;  his  frame,  light,  sinewy,  ac- 
tive, and,  at  least  in  early  life,  capable  of 
long-continued  exertion.  His  early  love 
for  field  sports,  in  which  he  never  entirely 
lost  his  interest,  gave  scope  and  exercise 
to  all  these  qualities  to  which  they  greatly 
contributed. 

"  His  beautiful  handwriting,  his  familiar 
letters,  written  with  facility  and  despatch,  in 
businesslike  form,  without  flourish  and  with- 
out blot  or  erasure,  were,  particularly  if  ac- 
companied by  a  plan  or  sketch,  like  the 
careful  work  of  a  civil  engineer.  He  was 
so  much  my  senior  that  I  was  too  young  to 
take  any  part  in  his  field  sports  before  he 
had  left  home  for  a  counting-house  in  New 

[20] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

York,  but  I  fell  heir  to  sundry  ingeniously 
constructed  boy's  sleds,  box  traps,  fences, 
and  snares  for  game,  set  up  in  the  woods, 
and  other  like  devices  by  which,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  I  profited  less  than  I  might  have 
done." 

If  in  the  latter  years  of  his  appren- 
ticeship, realizing  that  his  knowledge 
and  experience  had  become  valuable,  he 
impatiently  looked  for  the  day  when  he 
should  earn  something  more  than  bread 
and  butter  and  cease  to  be  a  burden  on 
his  father,  he  nevertheless  fulfilled  his 
contract  to  the  end.  He  then  engaged 
for  a  year  as  assistant  with  his  friend 
and  cousin,  David  Greene  Hubbard,  at 
a  salary  of  $500,  with  the  privilege  of 
trading  for  himself:  not  an  enormous 
income,  indeed,  but  infinite  riches  com- 
pared with  nothing.  After  another 
twelvemonth  he  began  business  solely 
on  his  own  account,  employing  as  a 
clerk  his  brother  Henry,  of  whom  he 

rail 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

wrote  in  praise  as  "  doing  as  well  as  he 
could  expect,  and  as  likely  to  become 
of  much  service  after  a  little  more  prac- 
tice." He  and  his  father  also  entered 
into  partnership  with  their  kinsman, 
William  Leffingwell,  of  New  Haven, 
but  owing  to  the  hard  times  it  was  of 
short  duration. 

But  the  most  interesting  of  his  many 
enterprises  was  obtaining  and  manufac- 
turing quercitron  bark,  then  as  now 
used  by  tanners  and  dyers.  With  this 
object  he  traversed  the  forests  of  New 
Jersey  where  he  resided  for  a  time,  and 
established  a  mill  for  grinding  and  pre- 
paring the  bark  for  export.  His  cous- 
ins, G.  G.  and  S.  S.  Howland,  also  took 
an  interest  with  him,  and  his  father  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  at  Norwich. 
It  is  characteristic  of  father  and  son  that 
they  were  scrupulously  careful  that  their 
product  should  be  of  the  best  possible 
quality  for  shipment,  and  that,  sparing 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

neither  labor  nor  expense,  they  gave 
their  own  close  personal  attention  to 
details.  They  were  sensible  that  it  cost 
as  much  to  transport  a  poor  article  as  a 
good  one,  and  that  a  good  reputation 
went  far  to  command  a  good  price.  His 
father  wrote  to  him,  "  That  you  have 
made  any  profit,  or  are  like  to,  gives  me 
real  pleasure ;  but  be  cautious,  —  not 
too  sanguine :  keep  within  your  own 
depth." 

A  recent  writer  in  the  "  Forestry 
Magazine"  (November,  1907),  says: 
"A  famine  in  tan-bark  oak  is  seriously 
threatening  the  Pacific  coast  tanning 
industry.  Continual  harvesting  is  rap- 
idly depleting  the  supply,  and  disastrous 
fires  the  last  fifteen  years  have  destroyed 
bark  that  would  be  worth  one  and  one- 
third  million  dollars." 

The  monotonous  routine  of  work, 
however,  was  not  without  relief.  He 
was  always  a  welcome  guest  in  the  large 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

family  circle  of  his  Rowland  cousins, 
sons  and  daughters,  in  New  York  and 
Phillipsburgh ;  there  were  occasional 
opportunities  for  a  day's  sport  with  dog 
and  gun  in  New  Jersey  or  on  Long 
Island ;  and  the  considerable  skill  in 
sketching  and  drawing  in  water-colors 
which  he  acquired  at  this  time  afforded 
him  great  pleasure  as  long  as  he  lived. 
Perhaps  it  is  significant,  too,  that  a 
young  man  of  fine  appearance  and  at- 
tractive manners  was  somewhat  partic- 
ular about  the  ruffles  of  his  shirts ! 

Although  he  himself  does  not  speak 
of  military  honors,  we  know  that  in  the 
year  1814,  when  the  Atlantic  coast  was 
ravaged  by  the  British  fleet,  and  New 
York  was  in  such  peril  that  almost  every 
able-bodied  man  was  pressed  into  ser- 
vice, he  was  not  found  wanting,  but 
served  with  the  Huzzars  in  defence  of 
the  city. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

The  first  eighteen  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  not  altogether  pro- 
pitious for  mercantile  business.  In  this 
country  feuds  of  federalists  and  repub- 
licans, in  congress  and  in  the  newspapers, 
raging  with  unrestrained  bitterness  and 
malignity,  resulted  not  infrequently  in 
personal  violence  and  the  deadly  duel. 
Hard  words  were  freely  used,  com- 
pared with  which  the  forcible  explosions 
of  ebullient  wrath  in  high  places  that 
sometimes  shock  us  to-day  are  like  the 
gentle  roaring  of  a  sucking  dove.  The 
vituperation  and  scurrility  of  the  news- 
papers of  the  period  would  be  intolerable 
even  in  modern  yellow  journals.  Can 
any  one  imagine  the  present  editor 
of  the  "Evening  Post"  as  adopting 
for  his  own  the  following  words  di- 
rected by  his  illustrious  predecessor, 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  to  Thomas 
Jefferson,  and  addressing  them  to  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt? 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  Go,  wretch  !   resign  the  Presidential  chair, 
Disclose  thy  secret  measures,  foul  or  fair; 
Go,  search  with  curious  eyes  for  horned  frogs, 
'Mid  the  wild  wastes  of  Louisiana  bogs." 

Our  southern  border  and  great  western 
frontier  were  harassed  by  hostile  Indian 
tribes;  communication  and  transporta- 
tion by  land  or  water  were  difficult  and 
expensive;  strikes  and  labor  riots  were 
not  infrequent ;  the  slavery  question  was 
vexatious ;  and  arguments  for  and  against 
"protection  of  our  infant  industries" 
kept  merchants  in  perpetual  perplexity. 
It  was  a  serious  question  whether  the 
tariff  on  imported  calf  skins  should  not 
be  raised  so  as  to  sustain  the  price  of 
our  quercitron  bark ! 

More  than  this,  the  English  Orders 
in  Council,  the  Berlin  and  Milan  de- 
crees, the  impressment  of  American  sea- 
men by  the  British  claiming  the  right 
of  search,  the  blockade  of  our  ports,  the 
embargo,  the  capture  of  hundreds  of 

[26] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

our  merchantmen  by  the  French,  were 
among  the  exasperating  causes  that  cul- 
minated in  the  war  of  1812  and  para- 
lyzed our  commerce. 

A  young  merchant,  unwilling  to  risk 
everything  by  running  the  blockade  in 
violation  of  law  with  the  hope  of  mak- 
ing a  fortune,  could  do  but  little  more 
than  make  occasional  purchases  of  com- 
modities, that  could  be  bought  cheap  in 
New  York,  and  ship  them  to  Connecti- 
cut, receiving  in  return  coarse  country 
produce  and  manufactured  stuff  that 
might  be  salable  in  the  city.  Some  ad- 
venturous spirits,  taking  chances,  found 
it  expedient  at  short  notice  to  seek  se- 
clusion in  foreign  parts.  It  is  no  won- 
der, then,  that  "  at  the  end  of  ten  years 
in  commission  and  shipping  business,  it 
had  resulted  in  little  benefit  beyond  the 
experience  acquired."  But  how  valu- 
able was  that  experience !  It  was  in- 
vested capital. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

It  is  remarkable  that  during  this  long 
period,  when  financial  and  commercial 
affairs  were  at  the  lowest  ebb,  when  taxes 
were  enormously  high,  and  great  unrest 
prevailed  throughout  the  country,  this 
constant,  intimate  family  correspond- 
ence was  almost  exclusively  confined 
to  domestic  affairs,  with  scarcely  an 
allusion  to  public  events,  not  even  to 
the  achievements  of  our  navy  on  the 
ocean  and  great  lakes,  nor  the  famous 
victory  of  General  Jackson  at  New  Or- 
leans, nor,  nearer  home,  to  the  burning 
of  Stonington  in  1814  by  the  British. 

But  in  spite  of  everything  the  country 
grew  and  prospered.  Extensive  internal 
improvements  were  projected  and  car- 
ried on  by  the  government ;  lighthouses 
were  erected ;  steam  navigation  began 
on  the  Hudson  River ;  the  Coast  Survey, 
of  inestimable  value,  was  founded  ;  and 
the  acquisition  of  Florida  and  Louisiana, 
by  means  however  questionable  at  the 

[28] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

time,  added  enormously  in  the  end  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  country.  With  the 
administration  of  President  Monroe  be- 
gan what  was  popularly  called  "  the  era 
of  good  feeling,"  and  at  about  the  same 
time  there  came  a  turn  in  the  tide  of 
the  affairs  of  our  hero  which  led  him 
on  to  fortune. 

In  the  year  1818  his  cousins,  G.  G. 
and  S.  S.  Rowland,  already  mentioned, 
well-known  merchants  in  New  York, 
invited  him  to  enter  their  counting- 
room  on  a  salary  larger  than  he  had 
ever  received,  and  gave  him  encourage- 
ment that  they  might  in  the  near  future 
offer  him  a  better  position.  Within  a 
few  months,  in  partnership  with  Peter 
Harmony,  a  Spanish  merchant  resident 
in  New  York,  they  determined  to  send 
to  Peru  a  cargo  of  firearms,  munitions 
of  war,  and  other  merchandise,  and, 
through  the  favor  of  the  Spanish  minis- 

[29] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

ter,  obtained  a  license  for  the  admission 
of  the  cargo  into  that  country,  which 
was  then  at  war  with  the  adjoining 
province  of  Chile.  Accordingly  they 
fitted  out  the  small,  fast-sailing  brig 
"  Boxer,"  and  gave  Mr.  Coit  the  situa- 
tion of  supercargo.  The  supercargo 
was  a  person  of  no  small  importance, 
for,  although  the  captain  was  charged 
with  the  navigation  of  the  vessel  and 
discipline  of  the  crew,  upon  the  super- 
cargo, as  the  confidential  agent  and 
personal  representative  of  the  owners, 
devolved  the  responsibility  of  disposing 
of  the  cargo  and  of  collecting  and  re- 
mitting the  proceeds,  under  instructions 
of  course,  yet  with  large  discretionary 
power  in  emergencies. 

The  vessel  was  loaded  with  despatch 
and  with  secrecy  lest  the  purpose  of  the 
voyage  and  the  nature  of  the  cargo 
should  become  known ;  the  crew  was 
shipped,  and  his  own  preparations  were 

[30] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

made ;  but  much  to  his  regret  he  had 
no  opportunity  of  visiting  his  home  in 
Norwich,  where  his  father  was  suffering 
from  an  accidental  fall. 

And  now  began  the  Voyage  of  Life  ! 

"Journal  on  board  the  Brig  Boxer,  Wil- 
liam Skiddy,  master,  from  New  York  towards 
Northwest  Coast  of  South  America. 

"  Sunday,  Sept.  27,  1 8 1 8.  Got  under  way 
at  9  o'clock,  A.  M.,  with  a  light  breeze  from 
N.  West:  were  becalmed  in  the  bay  at, 
3  P.  M. :  at  8  P.  M.,  a  breeze  springing  up, 
passed  by  the  Hook,  and  at  9  P.  M.  dis- 
charged the  Pilot  and  proceeded  to  sea. 

"All  hands  on  board  in  good  health." 

These  are  the  first  words  of  the  super- 
cargo's private  log-book,  in  which  he 
kept  a  daily  record  of  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, of  the  temperature  of  the  air  and 
water,  of  distance  traveled  "per  log," 
with  brief  notes  of  the  weather,  the 
vessel's  course,  and  other  incidents  of 
the  long  voyage  of  one  hundred  and 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

six   days,   covering    by   his    calculation 
13,405   miles. 

Needless  to  say,  there  were  no  stops 
for  coal,  nor  was  this  a  junketing  cruise, 
like  that  of  President  Roosevelt's  "Ar- 
mada" in  its  majestic  course  to  the  Pacific. 
Not  a  single  port  was  entered,  and  direct 
communication  was  had  with  but  one 
vessel,  a  homeward-bound  Nantucket 
whaler,  whose  captain  came  on  board 
and  became  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to 
New  York.  The  highest  temperature 
recorded  is  eighty-eight  degrees,  and  the 
lowest  thirty-nine  degrees.  The  longest 
day's  run  was  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three  miles,  and  the  shortest  eighteen 
miles.  The  vessel  crossed  the  equator 
on  November  I ,  but  we  have  no  record 
of  the  "high  jinks"  which  traditionally 
celebrate  that  event.  At  midnight  a 
week  later,  however,  sufficient  excite- 
ment of  a  different  kind  was  created  by 
the  imminent  danger  of  shipwreck  on 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

one  of  the  small  precipitous  islands  of 
Martin  Vass,  to  the  eastward  of  Brazil. 
This  peril  was  happily  averted,  and  the 
voyage,  he  says,  "was  not  unpleasant,  with 
the  exception  of  about  thirty  days  com- 
ing round  Cape  Horn,  where  we  experi- 
enced much  bad  weather,  and  were  three 
weeks  of  the  time  under  storm  sails." 
"  I  am  not  anxious/'  he  adds,  "  to  make 
the  voyage  again  in  winter,  in  a  vessel 
not  one  of  the  strongest."  The  only 
diversion  for  the  voyager  in  the  gloom 
of  the  perpetual  fogs  of  the  region  was 
in  watching  the  whales  and  porpoises, 
the  penguins,  and  other  aquatic  birds 
that  abounded  in  the  air  and  sea. 

At  this  time,  also,  occurred  the  most 
exciting  incident  of  the  voyage,  —  a 
mutinous  demonstration  by  the  mate 
and  half  the  crew,  who,  defying  the 
captain,  refused  to  obey  orders.  Their 
purpose  was  to  take  possession  of  the 
vessel,  run  her  into  a  port  of  Chile,  and 
3  [33] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

sell  the  arms  to  the  government;  but  it 
was  frustrated  by  the  coolness  and  cour- 
age of  the  captain,  who  subdued  them 
with  his  pistols,  though  the  situation 
was  for  a  time  alarming. 

The  arrival  of  his  vessel  off  the  harbor 
of  Callao,  eight  miles  distant  from  the 
city  of  Lima,  on  the  1 4th  of  January, 
1819,  ended  his  voyage,  but  by  no 
means  ended  his  adventures,  for,  being 
becalmed  late  in  the  day,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  take  a  boat  with 
two  seamen  and  row  in  to  the  shore  in 
the  hope  of  finding  a  pilot ;  "  But,"  he 
says,  — 

"  the  shore  being  more  distant  than  we  sup- 
posed we  were  benighted  before  arriving 
there :  and  in  consequence,  not  being  able 
to  land  on  the  rocky  shore  with  the  surf 
rolling  heavily,  I  steered  for  what  I  supposed 
to  be  the  port,  and  about  eleven  o'clock  at 
night  fell  in  with  the  guard  boat  on  duty 
patrolling  the  harbor.  My  explanations, 
being  anything  but  satisfactory  I  was  arrested 

[34] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

as  a  prisoner  of  war  and  put  on  board  the 
Spanish  Ship  of  war  '  Esmeralda.' " 

There  were  two  parties  in  Peru  at  this 
time,  the  royalists,  who  supported  the 
Spanish  viceroy,  and  the  revolutionists, 
who  advocated  a  popular  government. 
Moreover,  the  government  of  Chile  had 
designs  upon  Peru,  and  with  the  co- 
operation of  Lord  Cochrane,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  in  the  English 
navy,  was  known  to  be  preparing  to 
send  a  fleet  from  Valparaiso  against 
Lima ;  it  was,  indeed,  hourly  expected. 

"It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  suspicion 
should  attach  to  a  boat  discovered  at  mid- 
night prowling  about  the  harbor,  and  that 
I  should  be  arrested  as  a  spy.  Our  arrival 
on  the  frigate  occasioned  no  little  stir.  The 
captain  with  his  leading  officers  formed  a 
council  and  subjected  us  to  a  long  course 
of  examination,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  I  was  sent  on  shore  in  charge  of  an 
officer  to  the  Admiral.  With  some  diffi- 

[35] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

culty  he  was  aroused  from  his  slumbers, 
and  was  so  alarmed  that  he  came  in  person 
with  us  on  board  the  ship  and  again  sifted 
the  sailors  and  myself  with  questions.  It 
was  finally  determined  to  await  the  arrival 
of  the  Boxer,  and  I  was  shown  to  the 
ward  room  and  provided  with  comfortable 
quarters  until  the  following  afternoon  when 
the  brig,  which  had  been  concealed  by  the 
island  of  San  Lorenzo,  hove  in  sight,  and 
in  a  few  hours  freed  me  from  my  anxiety 
and  temporary  confinement." 

It  now  became  a  very  serious  question 
what  to  do  with  his  cargo.  Business 
naturally  came  to  a  standstill ;  and  as 
opportunities  to  sell  were  for  a  time  cut 
off,  it  seemed  equally  unsafe  to  discharge 
it  or  to  leave  it  on  board.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances the  best  course  seemed  to  be 
to  bring  the  brig  within  the  Spanish 
lines  for  protection  and  land  his  cargo 
as  soon  as  possible.  Hardly  had  he 
done  so  when  in  came  Admiral  Coch- 
rane  with  a  fleet  of  five  large  ships, 

[36] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

while  the  Spanish  vessels  protected  by 
the  forts  prepared  to  give  battle.  The 
consternation  of  the  spectators  on  shore 
was  increased  by  a  dense  fog  which  ren- 
dered the  approaching  ships  invisible. 
Our  supercargo,  who  had  landed  before 
the  action  began,  "  was  gratified  by  see- 
ing the  whole  of  it  from  a  balcony  on 
the  water's  edge  at  little  more  than  half 
gunshot  from  the  enemy.  Their  balls 
came  nearer  than  was  pleasant,  not  a 
few  going  over  our  heads,  and  some 
entering  the  houses  about  us."  The 
engagement,  lasting  only  an  hour,  re- 
sulted in  the  loss  of  a  few  killed  and 
wounded  on  each  side,  when  the  ad- 
miral withdrew  his  ships,  saying  that 
he  had  come  in  only  for  a  reconnois- 
sance.  Some  days  afterwards,  by  proc- 
lamation, he  declared  the  whole  coast 
in  a  state  of  blockade.  The  supercargo 
determined  to  send  his  vessel  home  with 
a  cargo  of  cocoa,  and  about  the  24th  of 

[37] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

March  she  ran  the  blockade  under  cover 
of  night.  This  gave  him  an  opportu- 
nity to  write  long  letters  to  his  parents, 
describing  his  adventures  during  his  ab- 
sence of  six  months,  and  expressing 
his  anxiety  on  account  of  the  con- 
dition of  his  father  when  he  left  New 
York. 

He  now  found  himself  in  a  most 
perplexing  predicament.  He  had  not 
burned  his  ships,  but,  what  was  as  bad, 
he  had  sent  the  "  Boxer "  home,  and 
had  no  alternative  but  to  stay  and  com- 
plete his  business.  He  had  remitted 
the  proceeds  of  a  large  part  of  his  cargo, 
which  had  been  sold  so  advantageously 
that  he  estimated  the  net  profits  of  his 
principals  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  per 
cent,  but  unfortunately  the  Spanish 
government,  which  had  purchased  arms 
to  the  value  of  $30,000,  while  acknowl- 
edging its  obligation,  was  without  money 
to  make  payment.  To  leave  the  coun- 

[38] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

try  would  be  to  abandon  his  claim,  and 
in  remaining  he  would  be  subjected  not 
only  to  great  personal  inconvenience  but 
to  great  anxiety  lest  an  overthrow  of  the 
existing  government  should  result,  as 
it  probably  would,  in  the  repudiation 
of  the  debt.  A  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  ignorant  of  the  language,  with  no 
friendly  adviser,  he  could  only  wait  and 
hope  with  all  the  patience  he  could 
command. 

Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru,  founded  by 
Hernando  Pizarro  on  the  festival  of  the 
Epiphany  in  1535,  was  originally  named 
the  City  of  the  Kings,  in  honor  of  the 
kings  of  the  Orient.  Called  by  Pres- 
cott  "  the  Beautiful  City,  the  fairest 
gem  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,"  it  was 
long  renowned  for  its  great  wealth,  its 
commercial  importance,  its  magnificent 
palaces,  churches,  and  convents,  and  as 
the  seat  of  the  university  of  San  Marco, 
established  in  1551,  and  remaining  to- 

[39] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

day  the  oldest  institution  of  learning  in 
the  western  hemisphere. 

In  1819  its  glory  had  departed  in 
consequence  of  volcanic  eruptions,  earth- 
quakes, internal  dissensions,  and  wars 
with  the  neighboring  provinces.  Cal- 
lao,  its  ancient  seaport,  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance,  had  been  destroyed 
by  an  earthquake  seventy  years  earlier, 
and  was  now  nothing  but  a  filthy,  squalid 
landing  place.  To  say  that  earthquakes 
and  revolutions  were  of  daily  occurrence 
would  be  an  exaggeration,  but  Peru  had 
long  been  in  a  state  of  physical  and  po- 
litical unrest.  The  foundations  of  Lima 
had  been  laid  deep  and  strong  by  Pi- 
zarro,  however,  and  traces  of  its  former 
splendor  still  remained. 

The  climate  in  January,  the  summer 
season,  was  delightful.  Although  the 
situation  was  but  twelve  degrees  south 
of  the  equator,  breezes  from  the  Pacific 
on  the  west  and  from  the  Andes  on  the 

[40] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

east  so  tempered  the  air  that  the  heat 
was  at  no  time  oppressive.  There  was 
never  any  rain  and  there  was  never  a 
drought,  for  natural  streams  from  the 
mountains  and  artificial  irrigation  pro- 
duced luxuriant  vegetation  and  an  abun- 
dance of  the  choicest  fruits  and  such 
tropical  flowers  as  are  never  seen  in 
higher  latitudes  except  in  hot-houses. 

The  population  of  Lima  was  about 
seventy  thousand,  half  of  whom  were 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  Indians.  The 
most  respectable  were  emigrants  from 
Spain  or  were  of  Spanish  descent.  It 
was  the  policy  of  the  government  to 
exclude  from  the  country  all  foreigners, 
and  indeed  to  prohibit  exports  and 
imports  of  merchandise  except  under 
enormous  duties.  Only  about  fifty 
other  foreigners,  admitted  by  special 
permit,  were  in  Lima  at  this  time. 
As  one  consequence  of  their  exclusion 
there  were  no  decent  hotels  or  board- 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

ing  houses  for  their  accommodation. 
Whether  conditions  are  now  better  or 
worse  doth  not  appear,  but  a  newspaper 
recently  reported  that  a  traveler  in  the 
country  was  temporarily  imprisoned 
pending  a  controversy  about  his  papers. 
On  his  release  he  betook  himself  to  a 
hotel,  but  speedily  escaped  and  asked 
to  be  readmitted  to  the  greater  com- 
forts of  the  common  jail ! 

It  was  then  customary  in  Lima,  how- 
ever, for  merchants  to  receive  into  their 
own  houses  captains  and  supercargos  of 
vessels  consigned  to  them,  and  thus  our 
hero  became  the  guest  of  Don  Pedro 
Abadia,  a  man  of  wealth,  of  great  ur- 
banity and  integrity,  the  head  of  an 
important  commercial  establishment. 
Under  the  same  roof  resided  his  part- 
ner, Mr.  Blanco,  with  his  wife  and 
four  children.  Writing  of  them  to 
his  mother  in  August,  1819,  he  says: 
"  I  have  found  them  both  very  honor- 

[4*] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

able  men  and  good  friends,  but  even 
in  the  best  educated  families  there  is 
a  license  in  conversation  and  a  freedom 
of  speech  which  astonishes  one  accus- 
tomed to  different  habits." 

Under  the  same  date  he  continues: 

"I  am  astonished  when  I  reflect  that  it  is 
now  almost  a  year  since  1  left  New  York  and 
longer  since  I  have  seen  you.  The  novelty 
I  have  met  with  has  made  the  time  pass 
quickly  and  pleasantly  with  the  exception 
of  the  time  occupied  by  my  voyage,  but  the 
scene  now  begins  to  alter,  the  novelty  is 
wearing  away,  and  when  I  consider  seriously 
the  state  of  society  here  and  the  habits  of 
the  people  I  am  more  than  ever  desirous  of 
being  back  again  in  my  own  country.  For 
a  considerable  time  I  lived  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  Abadia.  Since  then  I  have  taken  a 
snug  and  comfortable  house  in  company 
with  a  Mr.  Mercier  of  Baltimore,  who 
is  here  on  commercial  business.  He  is  a 
well-informed,  gentlemanly  man,  and  I 
consider  myself  fortunate  in  having  such  a 
companion. 

[43] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  I  have  acquired  so  much  of  the  lan- 
guage in  six  months  that  I  can  speak  it  a 
little,  and  understand  it,  when  spoken,  con- 
siderably. In  the  further  space  of  six 
months  I  hope  to  know  it  very  tolerably. 
Amusements  are  very  limited ;  the  theater 
is  miserable ;  there  are  many  religious  pro- 
cessions and  bull-fights. 

"My  principal  occupation,  apart  from 
studying  the  language,  is  drawing,  and  I 
hope  to  give  you  a  perfect  idea  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  country,  the  dresses  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  of  the  Indians  of  the  in- 
terior, by  sketches  which  will  have  some 
novelty  to  recommend  them." 

Reluctant  though  he  was  to  remain 
in  Lima  he  became  convinced  that 
there  was  an  opening  there  for  an  ex- 
ceedingly profitable  business.  Writing 
on  this  subject  to  his  father  he  says: 

"  I  have  embraced  this  opportunity  to 
write  particularly  to  my  friends  in  New 
York,  having  it  in  my  power  to  hold  out 
very  strong  inducements  to  them  to  make 
further  shipments  to  this  country.  They 

[44] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

can,  if  they  are  not  blind  to  their  interests, 
take  advantage  of  the  circumstances  and 
add  another  fortune  to  that  they  already 
possess.  I  have  told  them  that  the  coun- 
try is  a  most  unpleasant  one  to  reside  in, 
both  on  account  of  the  bad  state  of  society 
and  of  the  state  of  war  which  it  is  in,  and 
the  jealousy  of  the  inhabitants  to  foreign- 
ers, with  other  disagreeable  circumstances, 
and  that  nothing  but  the  expectation  of 
realizing  something  extraordinary  would 
induce  me  to  remain  here  any  considerable 
time.  I  think  I  ought  to  have  twenty  per 
cent  of  the  net  profit,  but  am  willing  to 
leave  it  to  you  to  make  such  terms  with 
them  for  me  as  you  think  proper." 

His  anxiety  on  this  point  was  not 
relieved,  and  great  was  his  disappoint- 
ment in  December  when  he  was  still 
without  letters  from  his  principals  or 
from  any  of  his  family.  Writing  to 
his  sister  Maria  he  says : 

"  I  hardly  need  tell  you  how  anxiously  I 
am  expecting  to  hear  from  you.  It  is  now 

[45] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

more  than  eight  months  since  my  vessel  left 
this  for  New  York,  and  should  my  friends 
have  determined  on  sending  her  back,  as  is 
my  calculation,  she  will  undoubtedly  be  here 
this  month.  If  my  hopes  are  realized  and 
I  hear  you  are  all  well  and  happy  it  will  be 
the  greatest  pleasure  I  can  possibly  enjoy." 

But  his  hopes  were  not  fullfilled ;  the 
inexplicable  delay  in  the  arrival  of  let- 
ters continued ;  he  was  without  response 
from  his  principals;  he  was  unable  to 
transact  any  business,  and  the  possibility 
of  collecting  his  claim  was  more  and 
more  questionable. 

At  last,  however,  when  his  prospects 
were  as  gloomy  as  in  the  darkest  days 
off  Cape  Horn,  by  the  exercise  of  re- 
markable tact  and  business  sagacity  he 
accomplished  what  had  seemed  impos- 
sible, and  established  his  reputation  as 
a  far-seeing  man  of  affairs.  The  gov- 
ernment, still  with  an  empty  treasury, 
was  finally  induced  through  the  friendly 

[46] 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH    COIT 

influence  of  Don  Pedro  Abadia  to  give 
Mr.  Coit  permission  to  export  a  cargo, 
and  consented  to  remit  the  duty  thereon 
in  satisfaction  of  his  claim.  He  had  al- 
ready made  the  acquaintance  of  Captain 
Cleaveland  of  Boston,  and  persuaded 
him  to  charter  a  Swedish  vessel  then  in 
port,  and  load  her  with  cocoa  which 
was  the  only  article  which  could  be 
exported  in  sufficient  quantity  to  answer 
the  purpose.  Mr.  Abadia  undertook 
to  purchase  the  cocoa  at  Guayaquil,  six 
hundred  miles  to  the  northward,  it 
being  understood  that  our  hero  should 
proceed  thither  to  superintend  the  load- 
ing, and  then  set  sail  for  Gibraltar  where 
he  was  to  sell  his  cargo  and  divide  the 
proceeds  as  the  agent  of  all  parties  in- 
terested. To  accomplish  all  this  as 
successfully  as  he  did  demanded  busi- 
ness talent  of  the  highest  order. 

The  Viceroy  at  the  same  time  gave 
Mr.  Coit  a  license  to  introduce  a  cargo 

[47] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of  merchandise  into  Peru  free  of  duty, 
—  a  concession  which  was  believed  to 
be  of  considerable  value,  as  he  was  at 
liberty  to  use  it  himself  or  to  dispose 
of  it  for  his  own  advantage. 

We  next  hear  from  him  at  Guayaquil 
in  April,  1820,  by  a  letter  to  his  sister 
Maria,  which  closes  this  account  of  his 
first  residence  in  South  America. 

"  Eighteen  months  have  elapsed  since  I 
left  New  York,  and  I  am  yet  without  a  line 
from  any  of  my  friends  in  the  United 
States  or,  indeed,  any  information  respecting 
them. 

"  My  coming  to  this  port  is  connected 
with  a  very  long  voyage  I  have  in  view  which 
removes  to  a  considerable  distance  the  pleas- 
ing hopes  I  had  entertained  of  seeing  you  all 
within  a  few  months. 

"  I  have  engaged  with  Captain  Cleaveland, 
of  the  ship  "  Beaver,"  to  take  the  consignment 
of  a  large  Swedish  ship  to  be  loaded  here  with 
cocoa  for  Gibraltar.  Should  the  whole 
of  this  undertaking  be  crowned  with  sue- 

[48] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

cess  I  shall  be  enabled  to  return  to  my 
native  land  under  circumstances  favorable 
beyond  my  most  sanguine  hopes  when 
leaving  it. 

"  This  port,  about  six  hundred  miles  north 
of  Lima,  is  situated  on  a  river  of  the  same 
name  about  eighty  miles  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  population  is  twenty  thousand, 
a  large  proportion  being  indians,  mulattoes, 
and  negroes.  The  women,  celebrated  for 
their  beauty  are  called  the  Circassians  of 
South  America.  Delicious  fruits,  pine-ap- 
ples weighing  ten  or  twelve  pounds,  oranges, 
cocoanuts,  and  other  fruits  are  in  abundance, 
yet  I  think  we  should  suffer  materially  in 
an  exchange  of  fruits.  They  are  strangers 
to  our  fine  apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  and 
apricots,  whereas  we  can  generally  have  the 
best  of  theirs  from  the  West  Indies,  though 
not  in  the  same  perfection. 

"  Education  and  customs  are  strikingly  dif- 
ferent from  ours.  Little  children  are  very 
precocious  and  are  taught  to  dress  and  act 
like  grown  men  and  women.  The  leading 
traits  in  the  character  of  the  women  are  van- 
ity and  avarice :  they  are  almost  without 

4  [  49  ] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

modesty,  and  even  young  ladies  use  language 
that  would  be  shocking  to  North  American 
ears. 

"  We  are  ready  to  go  to  sea  this  morning 
in  company  with  Captain  Cleaveland  who  will 
proceed  in  the  "  Beaver "  and  be  the  bearer 
of  this,  while  I  shall  sail  for  Gibraltar." 

His  strictures  on  society  in  Guayaquil 
were  somewhat  mollified,  however,,  by 
the  gratifying  attentions  he  received 
from  the  Rosa  Puerto  family,  at  whose 
house  he  became  a  frequent  visitor.  It 
was  rendered  exceedingly  attractive  by 
a  large  circle  of  beautiful  and  well-bred 
women,  —  sisters,  wives,  and  children, 
—  all  living  under  one  roof  and  form- 
ing a  delightful  society  of  their  own. 

His  next  letters  were  to  his  father 
and  mother  from  Gibraltar  at  the  close 
of  September,  1820.  In  them  and  in  his 
autobiography  he  records  the  incidents 
of  his  voyage  in  nearly  the  following 
words : 

[5°] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH   COIT 

"It  is  with  no  small  pleasure  that  I  ad- 
dress you  from  this  side  the  Atlantic,  and  I 
may  say  my  happiness  would  be  complete  if 
I  could  be  assured  that  no  unpleasant  occur- 
rence has  happened  in  the  family  in  my  long 
absence.  I  have  been  more  particularly  anx- 
ious respecting  my  father,  from  the  distress- 
ing accident  which  visited  him  at  the  moment 
of  my  leaving  New  York. 

"  This  day,  September  27,  completes  two 
years  since  I  left  New  York,  during  which 
period  I  have  not  received  a  line  from  any 
of  my  friends  in  the  United  States.  My 
last  letters  were  sent  from  Guayaquil  by 
Captain  Cleaveland,  but  as  I  hear  that  he 
put  in  to  Lima  leaky  probably  they  never 
reached  you. 

"  I  left  Lima  on  the  5th  of  March,  pro- 
ceeded to  Guayaquil,  and  loaded  my  ship 
with  eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  of 
cocoa  in  bulk,  and  sailed  on  April  16  for 
Gibraltar.  The  voyage  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  days  was  monotonous  and  tedious.  The 
captain  gave  Cape  Horn  and  the  Falkland 
Islands  a  wide  berth,  and  we  crossed  the 
equator  after  three  months  without  having 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

sighted  land.  In  a  violent  gale  we  were  in 
imminent  danger;  the  captain  was  utterly- 
confused  and  took  refuge  in  the  companion 
way,  but  finally  by  some  means  the  vessel 
righted  and  got  on  her  course. 

"A  few  days  later  an  alarming  sight  ap- 
peared. At  a  distance  a  long,  low,  warlike- 
looking  craft,  having  the  appearance  of  a 
privateer,  was  watching  us,  and  we  fully 
expected  to  be  boarded  and  plundered  if 
nothing  worse.  On  she  came,  then  hove 
to,  and  we  could  see  the  boats  lowered  with 
men  in  arms.  Our  case  seemed  desperate, 
when,  to  our  infinite  surprise,  after  the  boats 
had  made  half  the  distance  to  us,  a  signal  was 
given  for  their  return,  which  was  instantly 
complied  with.  For  some  cause  that  we 
were  left  to  conjecture  the  stranger  had  taken 
alarm  and  left  us. 

"  Near  the  close  of  the  fifth  month,  when 
we  hoped  to  arrive  at  Gibraltar  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  a  violent  "  levanter  "  brought  us 
again  under  close-reefed  sails,  and  we  drifted 
at  its  pleasure.  At  this  time  we  had  a  fresh 
alarm  in  the  appearance  of  two  war-vessels 
which  we  had  reason  to  fear  were  Algerine 

[52] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

pirates,  but  to  our  great  relief  they  took  no 
notice  of  us  and  passed  on  their  way. 

"  This  delay  of  eight  days  was  the  more 
annoying  as  our  limited  supply  of  food  was 
reduced  to  poor  salt  beef,  and  wormy,  very 
wormy,  sea-biscuit.  But  still,  I  cannot  say  I 
really  suffered ;  good  health  and  good  appe- 
tite made  me  relish  even  this  coarse  fare. 
Again,  when  perhaps  twenty  miles  east  of 
Gibraltar,  the  wind  and  current  drifted  us 
within  range  of  the  guns  of  the  fort  off  Cadiz. 
In  this  position  we  were  in  danger  of  being 
boarded  by  the  officers  of  the  fort,  and  knew 
not  what  our  fate  might  be,  but  providen- 
tially a  light  breeze  sprang  up  and  we  were 
for  a  third  time  relieved  from  anxiety.  In  a 
few  hours  we  found  ourselves  in  the  port  of 
Gibraltar." 

Addressing  his  mother  he  says : 

"  I  expect  to  go  from  hence  to  England, 
and  it  would  be  very  pleasing  to  me  if  I 
could  return  home  from  thence  and  visit 
you  all,  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe  I  shall 
undertake  another  voyage  to  Peru  in  the 
hope  it  may  enable  me  to  return  to  my 

[53] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

native  land  with  more  reputation  and  under 
more  favorable  conditions  than  I  can  at 
present.  Such  being  the  case,  I  am  sure 
you  will  acquiesce  in  the  propriety  of  the 
measure,  notwithstanding  it  may  occasion 
you  'some  uneasiness  and  disappointment. 

"  I  cannot  avoid  saying  here  that  I  am  sen- 
sible of  having  occasioned  you  more  of  those 
painful  sensations  all  my  life  than  either  of 
your  other  children,  —  certainly  not  from 
a  wish  to  do  so,  but  perhaps  too  often  from 
a  selfish  disposition  and  the  result  of  impru- 
dencies.  I  assure  you  I  shall  never  feel  en- 
tirely at  ease  on  this  point  until  I  have  it  in 
my  power  to  make  some  amends  by  a  more 
guided  and  correct  conduct,  which  I  pray  a 
kind  Providence  may  afford  me  the  means 
of  showing  by  returning  me  to  you  in  his 
own  good  time." 

This  was  not  the  language  of  a  home- 
sick child,  but  the  deliberate  words  of  a 
grown  man  whose  warm  affection  for 
his  family  and  his  old  home  appears 
throughout  his  correspondence. 

His  autobiography  gives  this  account 

[54] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of    his    sensations    on    his     arrival    at 
Gibraltar. 

"In  recalling  the  experiences  of  my  life 
I  cannot  recollect  hours  so  full  of  unalloyed 
happiness  as  those  which  I  now  enjoyed.  As 
before  stated,  I  had  staked  all  on  this  event- 
ful voyage,  and  now  that  it  had  proved  suc- 
cessful everything  in  the  future  seemed  bright 
and  hopeful.  I  was  soon  to  be  in  the  posses- 
sion of  what,  to  a  young  man,  was  a  hand- 
some capital.  I  had  gained  mercantile 
knowledge  of  a  foreign  trade  that  others 
would  be  desirous  to  possess,  and  should 
soon  have  the  pleasure  of  visiting  some  of 
the  most  interesting  capitals  of  the  Old 
World.  The  change  in  my  physical  condi- 
tion it  is  difficult  to  describe.  I  was  at  last 
freed  from  the  discomforts  and  dangers  of  a 
most  tedious  voyage  in  an  old  tub  of  a  ship. 
In  the  place  of  fare  that  a  beggar  would  have 
turned  his  back  upon,  my  table  was  furnished 
with  all  the  luxuries  of  a  well-supplied  mar- 
ket, for  scarcely  had  our  anchor  struck  ground 
when  boats  were  at  hand  with  a  profusion  of 
meats,  bread,  fruit ;  in  fine,  everything  that  a 

[SSl 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

famished  appetite  could  crave ;  the  weather, 
too,  was  delightful,  and  the  bands  in  the 
forts  enlivened  us  with  their  music. 

"  My  cargo  was  soon  disposed  of,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  venture  of  my  own, 
which  I  shipped  to  Bordeaux  to  avail  of  a 
better  market.  I  now  closed  up  the  affairs 
of  the  voyage  so  far  as  the  various  parties 
interested  were  concerned,  and,  remitting  to 
my  friends  in  New  York  the  balance  due 
them  on  the  "  Boxer's "  voyage,  was  now 
prepared  to  proceed  to  Paris  and  to  carry 
my  own  private  views  into  effect.  I  deter- 
mined to  make  the  journey  by  land,  as  it 
afforded  a  favorable  opportunity  of  seeing 
something  of  the  interior  of  France  and 
Spain." 

His  stay  at  Gibraltar  was  not  pro- 
longed after  he  had  completed  his  busi- 
ness, and  he  then  proceeded  by  mules 
and  post  chaise,  in  company  with  two 
English  gentlemen,  to  Madrid.  The 
journey,  though  fatiguing  and  rather 
uninteresting,  afforded  some  novel 

[56] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

glimpses  of  Spanish  low  life.  Progress 
was  necessarily  slow ;  the  vehicle  and 
the  harness  and  manner  of  driving 
were  quite  primitive;  the  driver  kept 
up  a  lively  conversation  with  his  mules, 
calling  them  by  their  names,  and  when 
language  and  gesticulation  failed  to 
quicken  their  pace,  like  the  old  farmer 
in  the  fable  he  tried  what  virtue  there 
was  in  pelting  them  with  stones.  Ac- 
counts came  to  his  notice  of  robberies 
on  the  road  which  were  so  frequent 
that  travelers  generally  went  armed  or 
with  an  escort  of  cavalry. 

During  his  stay  in  Madrid  illness 
deprived  him  of  much  enjoyment  he 
might  have  had  in  that  interesting  city, 
and  he  greatly  regretted  his  inability  to 
visit  the  Escurial,  with  its  wonderful 
creations  of  Murillo.  He  made  an 
effort,  however,  to  witness  the  grand 
and  imposing  ceremony  on  the  return 
of  the  king  to  the  capital,  attended  by 

[57] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

the  queen  and  officers  of  state,  in  royal 
carriages,  with  outriders  and  other  at- 
tendants glittering  with  gold,  rich  and 
showy  beyond  anything  he  could  have 
imagined. 

With  his  usual  good  fortune  in  mak- 
ing friends,  he  was  invited  by  Mr.  For- 
syth,  our  minister  to  the  court  of  Spain, 
to  accompany  him  in  his  private  car- 
riage to  Bordeaux ;  but  although  he 
accepted  the  invitation,  he  was  com- 
pelled by  illness  to  part  company  at 
Bayonne,  near  Biarritz,  on  the  shore  of 
the  Bay  of  Biscay. 

After  a  detention  of  two  weeks  he 
proceeded  by  diligence  to  Bordeaux, 
where  he  was  cordially  received  by  the 
German  house  of  Classman,  to  whom 
the  cocoa  he  had  shipped  from  Gib- 
raltar had  been  consigned.  An  agree- 
able acquaintance  thus  formed  with  Mr. 
Classman's  family  added  much  to  the 
pleasure  of  his  visit.  He  met  a  large 

[58] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

circle  of  intelligent,  polite,  and  thor- 
oughly well-bred  people  at  his  table, 
where  he  dined  frequently,  and  as  it 
was  understood  he  was  not  quite  well, 
a  bottle  of  claret  was  placed  by  his  side 
for  his  special  use.  "  But  such  claret ! 
I  had  never  seen  the  like.  It  was  a 
perfect  bouquet,  and  its  flavor  was  equal 
to  its  fragrance  ! " 

Writing  to  his  father,  he  says : 

"  You  will  think  that  I  travel  under  very 
great  disadvantages  from  the  circumstances 
of  my  having  come  to  Europe  without  a 
single  letter  of  introduction,  and  I  might 
almost  say  without  even  an  acquaintance 
(indeed  I  can  with  truth  say  it  of  that  part 
of  Europe  I  have  already  passed  through), 
but  I  can  assure  you  I  have  not  found  the 
least  inconvenience  on  this  account.  In 
Gibraltar  I  received  the  most  particular 
attention  from  all  the  American  and  some 
English  gentlemen  there  that  letters  would 
have  given  me,  and  I  have  brought  letters 
here  which  have,  I  can  venture  to  say,  made 

[59] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

me  some  very   excellent   friends  that  have 
overpowered  me  with  attentions." 

"  I  also  take  with  me  to  Paris  and  London 
sufficient  letters  to  give  me  an  introduction 
to  the  society  of  those  places.  I  mention 
this  so  that  you  may  have  no  uneasiness  on 
my  account  in  this  particular." 

He  concluded  his  business  in  Bor- 
deaux without  delay,  and  then  took  the 
diligence  for  Paris,  with  little  expecta- 
tion of  disposing  of  his  license  there, 
but  anticipating  much  pleasure  in  seeing 
the  wonderful  city.  Here,  again,  good 
fortune  attended  him,  for  he  found  in 
Paris  Don  Pedro  Blanco  of  the  house 
of  Abadia,  and  Philip  Mercier,  both 
of  whom  he  had  known  intimately  in 
Lima.  By  them  he  was  received  with 
the  utmost  hospitality,  and  under  their 
auspices,  to  his  great  enjoyment  and 
instruction,  he  saw  all  that  was  best 
worth  seeing  in  the  beautiful  capital. 
But  his  hopes  were  fixed  on  London, 

[60] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

and    thither   without    much    delay    he 
directed  his  steps. 

If  on  entering  the  great  metropolis 
he  had  felt  considerable  elation  of  spirits 
it  would  not  have  been  unnatural.  He 
was  no  longer  a  clerk  or  an  agent  for 
principals  who  were  far  away,  and  who 
might  or  might  not  approve  of  his  con- 
duct of  their  affairs,  in  which  he  had 
been  compelled  to  assume  grave  respon- 
sibilities. He  was  now  his  own  master, 
possessing  capital  which  he  himself  had 
acquired,  and  holding  a  license  which, 
as  has  been  seen,  he  had  reason  to  expect 
would  prove  valuable.  He  had  tested  his 
powers  and  knew  his  strength,  and  had 
good  ground  for  self-confidence,  espe- 
cially in  his  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs 
political  and  commercial  in  South  Amer- 
ica. It  was  many  years  later  that  he  said : 

"it  surprises  me,  now,  to  reflect  with  what 

boldness  and  confidence  I  entered  London 

[61] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

where  I  was  utterly  unknown,  and  without 
even  the  advantage  that  letters  from  home 
might  have  given  me.  The  probability  of 
my  introducing  myself  and  my  business  to 
strangers  in  such  a  manner  as  to  meet  their 
favorable  consideration  was  very  slight.  My 
friend  Mercier  had  kindly  given  me  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Frederick  Huth  &  Co., 
a  house  with  which  he  was  somewhat  ac- 
quainted. This  was  my  only  chance  for 
making  my  antecedents  known  aside  from 
my  own  representations." 

These  representations  must  have  been 
made  in  an  exceedingly  winning  and 
convincing  manner.  Merchants  of  large 
affairs  are  naturally  cautious  in  receiving 
the  proposals  of  strangers ;  but  his  ar- 
dent enthusiasm,  his  confidence  in  him- 
self and  in  the  value  of  the  propositions 
he  had  to  submit,  were  so  tempered  by 
his  deferential  courtesy,  his  accurate 
knowledge  of  details  and  his  scrupulous 
truthfulness,  that  he  had  every  reason 
to  be  gratified  by  the  impression  they 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

made  on  Mr.  Huth,  and  by  the  consid- 
erate reception  he  gave  him. 

The  partners  of  the  firm  of  Frederick 
Huth  &  Co.  were  German  by  birth. 
They  possessed  a  large  capital  and  had 
long  been  established  in  London,  where 
they  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  among 
merchants. 

After  consideration,  Mr.  Huth's  opin- 
ion was  that  the  license  was  of  less  value 
than  Mr.  Coit  had  believed,  as  the  ne- 
cessities of  Peru  would  compel  the 
admission  of  vessels,  license  or  no  li- 
cense ;  but  he  recognized  the  value  of 
Mr.  Coit's  knowledge  and  experience, 
and  offered  him  a  compensation  of 
$3,500  for  his  time  and  services  in 
selecting  and  purchasing  a  cargo  for 
shipment  thither.  This  offer  exceeded 
his  expectations  and  the  arrangement 
was  concluded  forthwith. 

As  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Peru 
did  not  encourage  immediate  action  in 

[63] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

sending  a  cargo  thither,  he  improved 
several  weeks  of  leisure  in  seeing  some- 
thing of  the  country.  He  visited  Hull, 
Leeds,  Manchester,  Chester,  and  Liver- 
pool, finding  in  all  these  places  so  much 
that  was  novel  and  interesting  that  the 
time  passed  pleasantly,  especially  in  vis- 
iting the  great  manufacturing  towns. 

"  Leeds,"  he  said,  "  is  filled  with  smoke 
and  dirt  and  appears  like  a  great  workshop, 
but  the  neighboring  country  is  very  fine  with 
numerous  elegant  buildings  and  country 
seats,  —  withal  a  good  hunting  and  shooting 
country.  These  sports  are  now  out  of  sea- 
son, or  I  should  have  desired  to  devote  a  few 
days  to  them.  You  perceive  I  make  good 
the  old  saying  that  ( as  the  twig  is  bent  the 
tree 's  inclined.'  Perhaps  I  am  more  dis- 
posed to  be  pleased  with  Liverpool  from  the 
very  flattering  manner  in  which  I  have  been 
received  here,  and  a  most  hospitable  recep- 
tion from  Mr.  Woolsey  and  his  good  family. 
Our  cousin  Abby  Woolsey  is  a  most  excel- 
lent and  lovely  woman,  and  since  my  recent 

[64] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

intercourse  with  her  I  am  more  than  ever 
sensible  of  the  loss  her  friends  sustain  in 
being  deprived  of  her  society.  I  have  cor- 
responded with  her  since  my  return  to 
London,  having  consented  to  expose  my 
own  poverty  in  letter  writing  for  the  sat- 
isfaction her  letters  have  afforded  me.  In  a 
recent  one  she  says,  'You  must  let  me  know 
if  you  hear  from  your  own  family.  Do  not 
forget  to  remember  me  with  sincere  affec- 
tion to  each  one,  but  particularly  my  always 
dearly  beloved  aunt.' ' 

His  business  in  London  was  not  so 
engrossing  but  that  he  had  leisure  for 
amusement  and  for  seeing  all  that  was 
most  worthy  of  attention  in  the  great 
city.  He  was  particularly  fortunate  in 
having  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
imposing  ceremonies  on  the  occasion 
of  the  coronation  of  King  George  IV. 
in  Westminster  Abbey  in  July,  1821. 
By  great  good  fortune  through  the 
kindness  of  his  friends  he  obtained  a 
seat  that  proved  to  be  one  of  the  best 

*  [65] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

in  the  house,  and  the  magnificence  of 
the  spectacle  amply  repaid  him  for  the 
tedious  delay  in  waiting  from  daylight 
to  eleven  o'clock.  As  the  King  was 
leaving  the  Abbey  in  procession  he 
was  gratified  with  a  near  view  of  him 
while  the  walls  were  echoing  shouts  of 
"  God  save  the  King ! "  "  Long  live  King 
George ! " 

In  the  following  September  the  ex- 
pedition for  Lima,  in  which  he  had 
been  interested,  was  ready  for  sea,  and 
he  was  tempted  by  very  favorable  pro- 
posals from  the  owners  to  join  it.  But 
he  had  other  prospects  in  view,  and 
remembered  with  anything  but  pleasure 
his  last  tedious  voyage  of  five  months 
from  Peru.  His  experience  at  sea 
might  have  taught  him  to  say  with 
Shylock :  "  Ships  are  but  boards,  sail- 
ors but  men:  there  be  land  rats  and 
water  rats,  water  thieves  and  land 
thieves,  I  mean  pirates :  and  then,  there 
[66] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

is    the     peril     of    waters,    winds    and 
rocks." 

The  object  he  had  in  view  was  to 
establish  himself,  with  the  advice  and 
assistance  of  the  good  friends  he  had 
made  in  England,  Mr.  Huth  and  others, 
in  commercial  business  in  Gibraltar, 
and  to  Gibraltar  he  proceeded  by  way 
of  Paris  where  he  was  detained  much 
longer  than  he  had  expected  on  account 
of  the  unhealthy  condition  of  Spain.  He 
had  no  reason  to  regret  the  detention, 
however,  as  will  appear  hereafter.  It 
is  interesting  to  contrast  his  opinions  of 
Paris  with  those  expressed  by  his  father 
forty  years  earlier,  and  printed  in  the 

memoir  of  Daniel  Lathrop  Coit. 

\ 

"  I  continue  much  pleased  with  Paris  and 
give  it  preference  over  London  as  a  place  of 
residence.  There  is  such  a  variety  of  objects 
to  amuse  and  engage  the  admiration  in  the 
magnificent  and  numerous  public  edifices, 
gardens,  and  streets,  as  well  as  in  the  exhi- 

[67] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

bitions  of  fine  arts  collected  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  such  as  are  not  to  be  met  with  in 
any  other  country.  Indeed,  the  round  of 
pleasureable  enjoyments  is  such  that  foreign- 
ers particularly,  and  not  infrequently  our 
countrymen  who  come  here  solely  for  amuse- 
ments, give  themselves  up  too  much  to  them 
and  commit  very  great  follies.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding this,  Paris  is  still  a  place  of 
greater  industry  than  perhaps  any  other. 
Manufactures  are  carried  on  to  a  great  ex- 
tent. The  women  are  more  industrious  and 
their  time  more  devoted  to  profitable  em- 
ployment than  in  any  other  country.  Paris 
must  be  much  altered  and  improved  since 
you  were  here.  A  principal  improvement 
made  by  the  late  Emperor,  besides  fine  public 
buildings  and  monuments,  are  the  piers  of 
free  stone  on  both  sides  of  the  Seine,  the 
whole  length  of  the  city." 

On  his  journey  to  Paris  he  stopped 
for  two  or  three  days  at  Southampton 
and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  passed  the 
time  very  agreeably  in  sketching  from 
nature.  At  Newport  he  was  diverted 
[68] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

by  the  annual  fair,  lasting  three  days 
and  made  a  frolic,  in  which  servants 
from  all  parts  of  the  island  are  engaged 
for  a  whole  year,  —  a  novel  perform- 
ance, similar  to  the  scene  represented 
in  the  opera  of  "Martha." 

To  his  great  surprise  he  was  recalled 
from  Paris  by  letters  from  Mr.  Huth 
so  urgent  and  important  that  he  had  no 
alternative  but  to  abandon  his  plans  for 
Gibraltar,  and  return  immediately  to 
London.  Mr.  Huth's  proposition  was 
nothing  less  than  that  they  should  form 
a  copartnership  to  last  for  six  years,  for 
the  transaction  of  a  commercial  business 
in  Valparaiso  and  Lima,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Frederick  Huth,  Coit  &  Com- 
pany. His  share  of  the  profits  was  to 
be  thirty-two  per  cent.  A  vessel  with 
a  valuable  cargo  was  to  be  fitted  out 
immediately  and  he  was  to  go  out  in 
her  and  have  full  control  of  the  business 
in  Lima  where  he  would  make  his 

[69] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

residence.  As  the  existing  house  of 
Frederick  Huth  &  Co.  possessed  ample 
resources,  and  enjoyed  the  highest 
reputation  as  merchants  in  England, 
Germany,  and  Spain,  the  success  of 
the  enterprise  seemed  to  be  assured  in 
advance.  Such  a  proposition,  coming 
from  such  a  source,  was  not  less  grat- 
ifying than  surprising,  and  although 
it  deferred  for  a  long  period  all  hope 
of  his  return  to  the  United  States,  there 
could  be  no  question  as  to  the  propriety 
of  its  immediate  acceptance. 

In  company  with  Mr.  Huth  he  then 
visited  the  principal  manufacturing 
towns  in  England,  making  purchases 
for  shipment  and  negotiating  for  further 
consignments.  Arrangements  were  per- 
fected for  sending  a  large  and  valuable 
cargo  in  a  fine  English  ship  in  which 
he  was  to  sail,  and  he  estimated  his 
own  share  of  the  profits  on  that  cargo 
alone  at  not  less  than  ten  thousand 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

dollars.       Writing    from     London    in 
May,   1822,  he  says: 

"  I  confess  I  am  a  little  surprised  to  find 
people  willing  to  adventure  their  property  at 
this  moment  so  freely  to  a  market  so  distant, 
and  from  which  the  accounts  have  been  very 
unfavorable,  but  so  it  is,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
I  shall  have  as  many  goods  shipped  to  me  as 
I  can  possibly  dispose  of,  even  if  a  million 
sterling,  per  annum.  ...  It  may  be  consid- 
ered a  singular  circumstance,  situated  as  I 
have  been  in  England,  a  stranger,  coming 
here  without  the  advantages  I  might  have 
had  from  letters  had  I  come  direct  from  the 
United  States,  that  I  should  so  soon  have 
had  two  offers  from  different  houses  of  the 
first  respectability  to  form  establishments 
abroad  and  take  the  entire  responsibility  of 
them,  but  such  has  been  the  case." 

He  and  Mr.  Huth  continued  their 
tour  as  far  as  Liverpool,  where  they 
received  every  civility  from  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Woolsey.  Mr.  Woolsey  strongly 
advised  them  to  change  their  arrange- 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

ments  in  favor  of  Mexico,  and  proposed 
to  take  an  interest  in  promoting  an 
establishment  there;  but  Mr.  Huth's 
plans  were  already  irrevocably  fixed. 

There  was  unavoidable  delay  in  mak- 
ing the  cargo  ready  for  shipment,  com- 
ing as  it  did  from  different  points,  part 
of  it  from  Hamburg,  and  it  was  not 
until  early  in  June,  1822,  that  the 
"Ship  Catharine,  Robert  Young,  mas- 
ter, from  London  to  the  coast  of  Chile 
and  Peru,"  with  Mr.  Coit,  and  a  gen- 
tleman whom  he  had  consented  to 
receive  on  board  as  a  passenger,  took 
her  departure. 

His  last  letter  to  his  family  from 
London  is  dated  May  26.  He  says : 

"  I  have  heretofore  mentioned  to  you  the 
high  reputation  as  an  author  which  our  coun- 
tryman, Mr.  Washington  Irving  of  New 
York,  has  established  for  himself  in  England 
by  the  publication  of  his  {  Sketch  Book.'  I 
am  happy  to  say  he  has  now  added  not  a  little 

[72] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

to  his  fame  by  a  new  work  which  he  calls 
*  Bracebridge  Hall.'  By  reading  early  and 
late  I  have  got  through  it,  my  engagements 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  and  can 
truly  say  I  never  laughed  and  wept  more  at 
one  and  the  same  book  in  my  life.  I  am 
willing  to  think  I  am  not  altogether  an  im- 
partial judge  of  the  work  from  the  friendship 
and  esteem  I  have  for  the  author  and  the 
interest  I  feel  in  his  success,  and,  indeed, 
in  all  that  relates  to  him. 

"  It  would  have  been  a  great  gratification 
to  me  if  I  could  have  looked  in  upon  you  in 
Norwich,  if  but  for  a  very  short  time,  pre- 
vious to  this  undertaking ;  but  under  this 
deprivation  your  letters  just  received  are  a 
greater  consolation  than  you  can  imagine. 
To  learn  that  our  dear  mother's  health  is 
even  better  than  usual  is,  at  this  particular 
moment,  the  greatest  pleasure  that  could  have 
occurred  to  me.  May  a  kind  Providence, 
my  dear  sister,  watch  over  and  preserve  us 
all  to  a  happy  meeting,  at  some  future  day." 

One  more  letter,  and  this  the  last 
from  London,  was  to  Mrs.  Woolsey 

[73] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

on  the  2d  of  June.  He  acknowledges 
the  courtesies  extended  to  him  and  Mr. 
Huth  in  Liverpool,  and,  with  affec- 
tionate farewells,  sends  her  a  copy  of 
"Bracebridge  Hall." 

There  is  some  reason  to  conjec- 
ture that  the  impossibility  of  maintain- 
ing close  and  frequent  communication 
with  his  principals,  Messrs.  Howland 
and  Harmony,  during  his  first  so- 
journ in  Lima,  resulted  in  misunder- 
standing on  their  part,  and  in  criticism 
which  he  could  not  but  regard  as 
unwarranted  and  entirely  unjust.  It 
was  gratifying  to  him  therefore,  on 
the  eve  of  his  departure  from  Eng- 
land, to  receive  from  his  Howland 
cousins  renewed  expressions  of  friend- 
ship, good  will,  and  confidence,  with 
cordial  congratulations  on  his  pros- 
perity. 

In  the  same  connection  his  father 
wrote  to  him :  . 

[74] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  Your  very  good  friend,  G.  G.  Rowland, 
who  passed  through  town  recently,  took  oc- 
casion to  congratulate  me  on  the  very  hon- 
orable conduct  manifested  by  you  in  this 
transaction.  It  had  immortalized  you  even 
in  New  York,  and  placed  your  character  in 
a  most  shining  and  conspicuous  light,  and 
given  you  almost  unbounded  credit  and 
eclat." 

A  long  interval,  nearly  four  months, 
elapsed  before  the  date  of  the  traveler's 
next  letter,  September  29,  1822,  from 
Monte  Video.  Of  this  letter  there  re- 
mains only  a  fragment,  which  suffices 
to  show  that  the  tedious  voyage  was 
interrupted  by  a  violent  gale  as  they  ap- 
proached Cape  Horn  which  so  strained 
the  ship  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  re- 
turn to  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  for  repairs. 

At  midnight,  through  the  ignorance 
or  incompetence  of  the  captain,  the 
vessel  ran  upon  a  reef  on  the  island  of 
Flores  and  for  a  time  seemed  to  be  in 

[75] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

imminent  peril,  but  by  means  almost 
miraculous  was  righted  and  proceeded 
to  Monte  Video,  not  far  distant.  There, 
as  it  was  found  necessary  to  discharge 
the  cargo  and  repair  the  vessel,  he  was 
detained  for  a  month  under  conditions 
that  were  not  altogether  agreeable, 
though  he  lived  in  the  house  of  an 
English  gentleman  who  took  charge 
of  the  ship,  —  "  his  wife  an  agreeable 
lady,  much  superior  to  most  foreign 
women  in  Spanish  countries,  who  are 
apt  to  become  negligent  in  neatness  and 
propriety,  or  what  we  should  esteem  so, 
and  fall  more  or  less  into  the  customs 
of  the  natives.  I  really  do  not  think 
there  are  a  dozen  very  good-looking 
women  in  all  Monte  Video,  and  not 
half  that  number  that  would  be  called 
pretty  with  us.  A  very  handsome  per- 
son there  is  not !  "  He  had  not  forgot- 
ten the  early  lessons  in  propriety  that 
he  had  learned  at  home,  nor  the  attrac- 

[76] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

tive    graces    of  the    girls    he   had  left 
behind  him  ! 

Although  the  damage  to  his  ship  and 
cargo  was  not  very  serious,  the  deten- 
tion at  Monte  Video  gave  him  an  op- 
portunity to  modify  his  plans  for  the 
continuance  of  his  journey.  He  had 
already  made  two  disagreeable  voyages 
around  Cape  Horn ;  and  he  now  goes 
on  to  say : 

"You  will  readily  imagine  after  all  my 
trials  I  am  ready  to  grasp  at  almost  any  ex- 
pedient to  avoid  another  journey  around 
Cape  Horn,  and  will  be  pleased  that  I  pro- 
pose to  go  from  hence  to  Buenos  Ay  res, 
about  one  hundred  miles  up  the  river,  and 
from  thence  by  land  to  Valparaiso,  there  to 
have  the  ship  meet  me." 

He  was  evidently  undismayed  by  the 
captain's  unfortunate  attempt  to  navi- 
gate the  ship  overland  in  proposing  to 
go  overland  himself! 

[77] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"The  journey  is  no  trifling  one,  being 
about  sixteen  hundred  miles,  to  be  per- 
formed on  horseback :  however,  I  can  un- 
dergo fatigue  of  body  better  than  anxiety 
of  mind;  severe  exertion  never  injures 
me,  and  I  think  I  was  never  in  better  con- 
dition to  bear  it  than  at  present." 

Having  put  his  ship  in  order  to  pro- 
ceed on  her  voyage,  he  left  Monte 
Video  and  went  up  the  river  to  Buenos 
Ayres,  where  he  remained  a  fortnight 
waiting  for  traveling  companions,  and 
there  he  received  favorable  news  from 
Peru  promising  an  excellent  trade  and 
a  liberal  profit  on  the  merchandise  he 
had  shipped. 

"  These  you  will  acknowledge  are  bright 
prospects,  and  should  they  be  realized  only 
in  part  I  shall  soon  be  more  independent  in 
a  pecuniary  point  of  view  than  I  have  ever 
been,  and  shall  be  able,  I  hope,  to  return  to 
my  own  country,  a  wish  that  is  now  dearest 
to  my  heart." 

[78] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

His  traveling  party,  besides  himself, 
consisted  of  three  American  gentlemen, 
and  numbered  nine  in  all,  including 
drivers  and  servants,  fully  armed  and 
prepared  to  resist  any  attack  from  the 
roving  bands  of  lawless  savages  that  in- 
fested the  country.  They  were  also 
provided  with  bedding,  cooking  uten- 
sils, provisions,  and  other  indispensables 
for  the  journey.  The  alarming  reports 
of  robberies  and  murders  on  the  road 
almost  made  him  wish  that  he  had  gone 
with  the  ship,  but  it  was  now  too  late. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1822,  all 
things  being  in  readiness,  he  began  his 
memorable  journey  across  the  continent 
of  South  America.  It  was  his  birthday, 
and  he  wrote : 

"  It  may  not  occur  to  you,  and  I  therefore 
remind  you  that  I  am  writing  on  my  birth- 
day. I  feel  sensibly  the  rapidity  with  which 
time  passes,  and  when  I  reflect  how  little  I 

[79] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

have  done  to  any  good  purpose  at  this  ad- 
vanced age,  I  am  startled  and  cannot  be  with- 
out apprehension  for  the  future.  Still,  I 
have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  for  many, 
very  many  things,  and,  if  my  present  pros- 
pects are  realized  only  in  part,  I  shall  have 
it  in  my  power  to  return  before  a  very  long 
time  to  a  life  which  is  dearest  to  my  heart." 

He  could  not  imagine  what  vicissi- 
tudes the  next  fifty  years  of  his  life 
would  bring  ! 

Not  even  the  anticipation  of  robbers, 
who  fortunately  did  not  come,  could 
make  the  long  carriage  drive  over  the 
pampas  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Mendoza, 
at  the  foot  of  the  eastern  Cordillera, 
anything  but  monotonous  and  weari- 
some. These  vast  plains  afforded  grass 
for  herds  of  innumerable  cattle,  and 
especially  wild  horses,  and  the  chief 
diversion  at  the  frequent  post-houses 
was  to  see  two  or  three  men,  when  a 
relay  was  called  for,  ride  off  into  a  herd 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

and  drive  in  one  or  two  hundred  of  all 
sizes  and  descriptions,  and  capture  such 
as  were  desirable  with  their  unerring 
lassoes. 

Mendoza,  a  large  inland  town,  was 
and  had  long  been  a  halting-place  for 
travelers  who  were  about  to  cross  the 
Andes.  Here  the  country  was  in  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  abounding  in  fields 
of  grain,  orchards,  and  vineyards.  It  was 
the  destination  of  two  of  his  party,  and, 
after  two  days'  rest,  Mr.  Coit,  with  a 
Lieutenant  Nixon  of  the  United  States 
navy,  who  had  been  in  the  company, 
mounted  their  horses  and  with  their 
guides  began  the  exciting  ascent  over 
the  Uspallata  Pass. 

After  seventy-five  years,  on  the 
summit  of  this  pass  at  an  altitude  of 
thirteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
on  the  boundary  line  between  Chile 
and  Argentina  symbolizing  peace  be- 
tween those  countries,  stands  to-day, 
6  [81] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

supported  by  a  cross,  a  colossal  statue 
of  Christ! 

Not  far  distant  in  the  south  was  the 
volcanic  mountain,  San  Jose,  twenty 
thousand  feet  high,  and  in  the  north 
towered  Aconcagua,  nearly  twenty-four 
thousand  feet,  supposed  to  be  the  high- 
est peak  in  the  western  hemisphere. 
Over  this  route,  traversed  by  Mr.  Coit 
in  twenty-one  days,  eighty-six  years  ago, 
a  railway  now  in  course  of  construction 
is  so  near  completion  that  a  recent  trav- 
eler in  midwinter,  climbing  the  most 
arduous  part  on  his  feet,  and  using  the 
railway  in  the  ascent  and  descent,  did 
what  had  been  believed  to  be  impossi- 
ble and  crossed  the  continent  in  five 
days. 

Huge  masses  of  rock  hurled  from 
the  summits  to  the  valleys  far  below  in 
many  places  obstructed  the  road  and 
gave  abundant  evidence  of  a  recent 
earthquake.  Of  this  he  received  full 

[82] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

intelligence  at  Santiago,  a  fine  city 
ninety  miles  in  the  interior,  and  on  his 
arrival  at  Valparaiso,  his  destination, 
he  witnessed  its  appalling  results,  the 
city  lying  in  ruins,  and  the  inhabitants 
destitute  of  food,  shelter,  and  clothing. 

It  is  not  without  surprise  and  regret, 
considering  his  artistic  appreciation  of 
the  picturesque  and  sublime  in  natural 
scenery,  and  his  power  of  narration 
which  could  make  a  remembered  scene 
seem  actually  visible,  that  we  find  in 
his  letters  that  still  exist  next  to  noth- 
ing of  the  wonderful  region,  then  almost 
unknown  to  civilized  men,  through 
which  he  had  passed.  He  plainly 
intimated  that  he  might  give  a  further 
account  of  his  journey  at  a  future  day, 
but  no  trace  of  it  has  been  found. 

In  interesting  contrast  with  the  ex- 
perience of  her  kinsman,  Mr.  Coit,  is 
Mrs.  Faith  Ripley  Atterbury's  charming 
account  of  her  twice  crossing  the  South 

[83] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

American  continent  with  her  husband, 
about  eighty  years  later,  over  nearly  the 
same  route,  but  under  very  different 
conditions.  The  panorama  of  the 
Andes  as  seen  from  the  Pacific  between 
Valparaiso  and  Lima  was  not  less  glo- 
rious than  in  his  day,  but  those  ancient 
cities,  while  retaining  remains  of  their 
former  grandeur,  had  been  transformed 
by  commercial  enterprise  and  modern 
civilization  into  gay  and  brilliant  capi- 
tals. Even  Callao,  which  he  had  found 
no  better  than  "a  filthy,  squalid  land- 
ing-place," called  forth  her  cordial 
approval  as  "quaint,  little  Spotless 
Town,"  looking  so  cosy  and  attractive 
and  friendly  that  she  was  loath  to 
leave  it. 

Mr.  Coit's  ship  made  a  good  passage 
around  the  cape  and  reached  Valparaiso 
shortly  before  he  did,  a  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance, as  it  enabled  him  to  go  on 
board  at  once  and  make  his  home  there 

[84] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

during  his  stay  in  the  city,  which  was 
prolonged  beyond  his  expectations  in 
consequence  of  the  unsettled  condition 
of  political  affairs  in  Peru  and  incessant 
conflicts  between  the  royalists  and  the 
revolutionists.  The  detention  was  not 
detrimental  to  his  interests,  however,  for 
his  cargo  found  an  excellent  market. 
He  says  :  "  I  live  constantly  on  the  ship 
and  am  comfortable  in  all  respects.  With 
the  troubles  of  others  ringing  in  my  ears 
I  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  my 
individual  concerns  are  more  than  fa- 
vorable." The  sufferings  that  he  wit- 
nessed on  every  side  appealed  to  his 
sympathy,  and  he  took  much  pleasure 
in  rendering  substantial  assistance  to  the 
United  States  consul  and  his  family,  who 
had  lost  everything  by  the  earthquake. 
The  United  States  seventy-four  gun  ship 
"  Franklin/'  Commodore  Stewart,  was 
in  port  at  this  time,  and  with  him  and 
his  family  he  had  a  friendly  acquaint- 

[85] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

ance,   as   also   with   the  family  of  the 
consul. 

He  remained  three  months  in  Valpa- 
raiso and  then  went  north  to  Quilea, 
the  port  of  Arequipa,  where  his  ship 
delivered  a  portion  of  her  cargo.  Be- 
fore he  could  collect  the  amount 
due  to  him  the  persons  to  whom  he 
had  made  sales  found  it  necessary  for 
their  safety  from  the  opposing  army  to 
make  their  escape  from  Arequipa,  and, 
choosing  not  to  lose  sight  of  them, 
he  followed  them  to  the  ancient  city 
of  Cuzco,  formerly  the  seat  of  the 
Incas,  the  native  kings,  who  ruled 
the  country  for  hundreds  of  years  be- 
fore the  Spanish  conquest.  The  four 
months  that  he  spent  there  gave  him 
full  opportunity  to  survey  the  ruins 
of  the  once  great  and  magnifi- 
cent city,  its  fortress,  its  palaces,  its 
churches,  and  the  famous  Temple  of 
the  Sun. 

[86] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

In  December,  1823,  after  an  absence 
of  more  than  three  and  a  half  years,  he 
found  himself  once  more  within  the 
walls  of  the  city  of  Lima,  with  sensa- 
tions very  different  from  those  with 
which  he  had  left  it.  He  was  then 
making  a  bold  venture  in  which  he 
could  not  be  fully  confident  of  suc- 
cess ;  he  returned  at  the  head  of  an 
important  establishment  which  had 
already  yielded  handsome  profits  and 
now  opened  more  brilliant  prospects. 

Writing  to  his  mother  he  says : 

"I  assure  you,  my  dear  mother,  I  have 
felt  much  gratified  by  the  particulars  you 
have  given  me  of  your  family  group  and  of 
our  immediate  friends  and  neighbors  in  whom 
I  shall  always  feel  a  lively  interest.  It  also 
affords  me  much  pleasure  that  in  being  sep- 
arated from  your  own  sons,  you  should  have 
found  in  Mr.  Gilman  all  that  an  own  son 
should  be.  I  feel  this  as  the  kindest  favor 
he  could  do  me,  and  I  shall  never  be  for- 
getful of  it." 

[87] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

To  his  father,  after  speaking  of  the 
outlook  for  good  business  as  exceeding 
his  expectations,  he  says: 

a  I  had  advanced  pretty  well  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Spanish  language  before  leaving 
this  for  Europe,  at  any  rate  sufficiently  to 
transact  my  business  in  it  and  carry  on  a 
conversation  with  any  one ;  but  the  French, 
which  I  acquired  to  a  certain  extent  while  in 
Europe  rather  confused  my  Spanish,  and 
that,  with  want  of  practice  for  so  long  a  time 
put  me  back  very  much.  However,  I  have 
recovered  what  I  lost,  and  am,  I  think,  more 
advanced  than  before." 

Except  for  a  comparatively  short  trip 
to  Quilea,  the  following  years  of  his 
life  in  South  America  were  spent  in 
Lima.  Here  he  occupied  a  large  and 
commodious  house  after  the  Spanish 
fashion  with  a  family  that  usually  num- 
bered about  twenty.  Household  ex- 
penses were  enormous,  but  commissions 
were  large  in  proportion,  and  he  sub- 
[88] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

mitted  without  much  repining  to  what- 
ever inconvenience  as  part  of  the  regular 
course  of  business,  hoping  it  might  the 
sooner  enable  him  to  accomplish  his 
ardent  desire  to  return  to  his  native 
land.  Writing  to  his  mother  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  says :  "  Our 
business  keeps  our  house  constantly 
thronged  with  captains  and  supercar- 
goes, who  give  me  not  a  moment's 
leisure  or  peace  except  when  I  am 
in  bed." 

Although  he  engaged  in  no  specu- 
lative ventures  for  himself  or  for  his 
firm,  his  constantly  increasing  commis- 
sion business  taxed  his  powers  to  the 
utmost.  In  February,  1825,  he  had 
eight  vessels  in  port  consigned  to  him 
with  cargoes  amounting  to  $400,000. 
In  August  he  names  eleven  more,  and 
in  the  January  following  he  was  over- 
whelmed with  business,  cargoes  com- 
ing from  the  United  States,  England, 

[89] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

France,  and  Germany  exceeding  a  mil- 
lion of  dollars.  Although  he  did  not 
think  it  possible  in  April,  1826,  that 
his  firm  could  ever  have  another  three 
months'  business  as  profitable  as  the 
last,  yet  after  eighteen  months  he  could 
say,  "  the  present  year  is  the  best  we 
have  ever  had,"  and  he  entertained  great 
hopes  that  the  final  six  months  of  his 
partnership  would  be  "  a  very  handsome 
winding  up."  All  this  is  the  more  re- 
markable because  of  disturbances  and 
conflicts  between  the  opposing  political 
parties,  and  the  constant  fluctuation  in 
the  prices  of  all  commodities  imported 
into  the  country.  It  had  been  a  period 
of  great  financial  distress  in  Lima.  Very 
many  families  who  had  been  in  affluent 
circumstances  when  he  first  came  to  the 
country  were  now  reduced  to  want  and 
beggary. 

Not  less  gratifying  than  his  material 
prosperity  was  the  cordial  approbation 

[9°] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of  all  his  acts  and  proceedings  repeatedly 
expressed  by  his  partners  in  London.  In 
a  private  letter  to  him,  in  April,  1826, 
Mr.  Huth  wrote: 

"  Let  me  assure  you  your  letters  always 
give  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  they  are  so 
interesting,  both  from  their  important  con- 
tents and  from  the  masterly  manner  and  style 
in  which  they  are  written.  .  .  .  Could  we 
but  have  peace  and  harmony  in  Peru  what  a 
wide  field  would  be  open  for  you  and  for  us  : 
as  it  is,  we  must  not  complain,  we  have  had 
hard  work  to  set  things  agoing,  but  by  de- 
grees I  trust  it  will  be  easier,  and  rest  assured, 
no  effort  shall  be  wanting  on  our  part  to  sup- 
port the  establishment.  ...  I  conclude  with 
the  renewed  tender  of  my  most  sincere  friend- 
ship, and  with  the  assurance  that  no  one  can 
possibly  take  a  livelier  interest  in  your 
welfare." 

His  partnership  was  to  expire  by  limi- 
tation on  the  eleventh  day  of  April,  1828, 
and  to  that  day  he  looked  forward  with 
the  eagerness  of  a  school-boy  expectant 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of  his  vacation.  The  years  of  his  ab- 
sence were  now  reduced  to  months,  and, 
as  he  counted  them,  he  declared  that 
nothing  would  induce  him  to  remain  in 
Lima  beyond  the  term  of  his  original 
agreement.  In  this  connection  he  says : 

"  What  changes  have  not  a  few  years  pro- 
duced in  my  situation  !  To  look  back  seven 
years  to  when  I  first  arrived  in  this  country 
a  stranger,  with  but  a  small  cargo  under  my 
direction,  and  now,  to  find  myself  at  the  head 
of  an  establishment  doing  more  business  than 
any  other  in  Peru,  and  actually  giving  assist- 
ance to  the  family  of  him  who  was  at  the 
head  of  commerce  and  one  of  the  richest 
men  in  the  country  at  that  time,  Don  Pedro 
Abadia!" 

He  was  much  interested  in  hearing 
from  his  parents  the  details  of  their  jour- 
ney to  Ohio  in  1826,  when  they  visited 
his  brother  Henry.  "  If  any  one  had 
predicted,  when  father  made  his  first 
journey  there  in  1801,  that  it  might 

[9*1 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

become  a  pleasure  jaunt  for  ladies,  that 
person  would  have  been  thought  cracked, 
at  least." 


ac- 
pros- 


He  was  also  concerned  by  their 
count  of  his  brother  Henry,  whose  piua- 
pects  were  somewhat  unpromising,  and 
wrote : 

"  He  certainly  has  an  unusual  capability 
for  business,  and  I  regret  that  he  is  not 
where  he  can  exercise  it.  ...  It  must  be  a 
heavy  charge  to  have  a  growing  family  with- 
out more  means  than  he  possesses,  and  it  will 
be  very  gratifying  to  me  if  I  can  aid  in  plac- 
ing him  in  an  eligible  situation.  Remember 
me  affectionately  to  him  and  his  family  and 
say  that  on  my  return  I  shall  not  be  long 
without  making  him  a  visit." 

To  his  mother  he  says : 

"  I  have  just  got  out  from  England  a  nice 
camera  lucida,  a  new  invention  for  taking 
landscapes  and  figures  with  despatch  and 
much  precision,  and  I  intend  to  add  con- 
siderably to  my  collection  of  views  in  this 
neighborhood  before  I  leave  it,  so  you  will 

[93] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

perceive  the  cares  of  business  have  not  de- 
prived me  of  my  fondness  for  this  favorite 
amusement;  and  will  you  be  offended  or 
think  me  frivolous  if  I  tell  you  that  I  would 
like  of  all  things  a  fine  day's  sport  with  my 
dog  and  gun  by  way  of  recreation  after  the 
tolerable  spell  of  business  I  have  had  ?  This, 
you  know,  was  a  passion  which  began  early 
with  me,  and,  it  is  best  to  be  candid,  I  believe 
it  will  last  late.  However,  you  will  admit 
that  I  can  lay  it  aside  when  business  or  duty 
bid.  .  .  .  But  the  clock  strikes  twelve,  and 
reminds  me  it  is  bedtime." 

The  business  prosperity  of  his  firm 
was  unabated,  and  his  partners  offered 
him  flattering  inducements  to  continue 
the  partnership  for  at  least  another  year  ; 
but  he  was  firm  in  his  resolution  to 
return  home  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  To  that  end  he  closed  his 
private  affairs  and  made  remittances  of 
his  funds,  some  to  Gibraltar  and  Eng- 
land, but  the  greater  part  he  proposed  to 
carry  with  him  in  specie,  gold  and  silver 

[94] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

bullion,  coined  silver,  and  sealskins.  He 
speaks  almost  apologetically  of  his  affairs 
to  his  father,  "  for  not  to  tell  you  would 
be  to  deprive  you  of  a  pleasure." 

Late  at  night,  on  the  28th  of  April, 
with  only  half  an  inch  of  candle  re- 
maining, he  writes : 

"You  are  aware  that  my  copartnership 
expired  on  the  1 1  inst.,  and  of  course  since 
that  period  I  have  had  no  connection  with 
my  former  house,  but,  notwithstanding,  the 
captains  and  supercargoes  will  not  let  me  rest, 
and  I  have  exactly  the  same  direction  in  the 
new  house  that  I  had  in  the  old,  and  though 
I  wish  it  were  otherwise  it  will  unavoidably 
continue  so  while  I  am  here.  .  .  .  Since 
my  last  we  have  had  a  dreadful  earthquake. 
You  can  hardly  form  an  idea  of  the  horror 
of  it,  the  ground  rising  and  falling  with 
undulations  like  the  sea ;  houses  and  parts 
of  houses  falling  ;  clouds  of  dust  rising  in  all 
directions ;  people  running  naked  into  the 
streets,  some  screeching,  others  crying,  and 
all  beseeching  for  mercy.  Such  a  scene  I 
never  wish  to  witness  again. 

[95] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

Since  the  earthquake  we  were  very  nigh 
having  another  revolution,  and  there  is  no 
telling  what  dreadful  consequences  might 
have  ensued  had  it  taken  effect.  Do  you 
wonder  that  I  wish  to  get  out  of  such  a 
country  where  earthquakes  and  revolutions 
are  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  to  say  nothing 
of  numerous  lesser  evils  ?  " 

In  a  letter  to  his  brother  he  gives  an 
interesting  narrative  of  his  personal  ex- 
perience in  this  earthquake.  He  had 
risen  at  an  early  hour  with  the  purpose 
of  making  a  sketch  from  a  lofty  tower 
which  commanded  a  fine  view  of  the 
city  and  river  at  the  end  of  a  bridge 
crossing  the  Reimac.  It  could  be 
reached  only  by  long,  dreary  passages 
and  various  staircases  and  trapdoors  in 
an  old  convent.  While  seated  at  his 
work  in  this  dangerous  position  the 
trembling  of  the  tower  and  the  rum- 
bling of  the  earthquake  warned  him  of 
its  approach.  So  sudden  and  violent 
was  the  shock  that,  leaving  his  sketch 

[96] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

and  implements  while  the  walls  and 
roofs  were  falling  about  him,  he  had 
barely  time  to  make  a  descent  that  was 
far  from  facile  and  escape  through  the 
ruins  to  the  street.  "  He  was  after- 
wards so  fortunate  as  to  recover  his 
unfinished  sketch,  which  he  completed 
under  more  favorable  conditions,  and  it 
remains  as  an  excellent  view  of  the 
cathedral  and  an  interesting  memorial 
of  the  event." 

Early  in  June,  1828,  he  embarked  at 
Lima  in  the  "  Danube,"  one  of  Good- 
hue  &  Co.'s  ships,  for  New  York,  via 
Cape  Horn,  and  took  leave  of  South 
America  forever.  No  seaman  on  a 
man-of-war  in  a  foreign  port  ever  saw 
the  "  homeward-bound  pennant"  at  the 
royal  masthead  with  greater  joy. 

An  affectionate  letter  to  his  mother, 
especially  interesting  because  it  is  per- 
sonal, closes  this  narrative  of  his  expe- 
^  [97] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

riences  in  South  America  and  his  ten 
years'  absence  from  home : 

"  It  now  really  seems  like  returning  home 
in  earnest,  and  perhaps  when  you  receive, 
and  may  be  reading,  this  I  shall  be  already 
on  the  way.  .  .  .  You  will  not  hesitate  to 
believe  me  when  I  tell  you  what  sensations 
agitate  me  when  I  reflect  on  the  changes 
which  a  few  months  are  likely  to  produce  in 
my  situation  and  happiness.  The  setting 
foot  on  my  native  land  again,  the  meeting 
with  old  acquaintances,  the  embraces  of  the 
family,  of  you,  my  dear  Mother.  .  .  .  Per- 
haps I  ought  to  prepare  you  to  expect  con- 
siderable change  in  myself.  I  certainly  have 
retained  my  hair  and  my  teeth,  but  then 
time  has  committed  its  usual  ravages.  I 
have  not  made  so  many  tedious  voyages  and 
journeys  and  passed  through  so  many  differ- 
ent climates  without  carrying  in  my  face  some 
marks  of  my  cares  and  anxieties.  ...  As 
to  finding  my  habits  or  manners  changed  or 
assimilated  to  those  of  the  people  among 
whom  I  have  been  so  long,  that  you  need 
not  expect.  I  am  pretty  clear  in  this  respect 
and  do  not  fear  to  be  taken  for  a  Spaniard. 

[98] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

.  .  .  Although  I  shall  retire  from  all  direct 
interest  with  any  house  in  the  Pacific  I  shall 
maintain  relations  with  several,  and  I  have 
besides  several  important  agencies  offered 
me  from  which  I  expect  a  handsome  and 
sure  income  without  putting  at  hazard  the 
property  I  have  acquired  which  is  itself  suffi- 
cient for  my  reasonable  wants,  even  supposing 
me  as  speaking  as  a  man  of  family.  When 
this  last  supposition  will  be  realized  I  can  at 
present  form  no  idea ;  perhaps  never ;  but 
do  not  think  that  I  mean  to  despair,  although 
I  am  an  old  bachelor.  A  good  establishment 
has  charms  for  those  who  have  not  one,  and, 
I  assure  you,  I  do  think  a  man  of  forty,  yes, 
forty,  with  such  is  fully  a  match  for  one  of 
thirty  without.  As  I  never  expect  to  be 
thirty  again  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so. 
Will  you  present  my  best  love  to  Elizabeth 
and  her  family,  and  believe  me 


[99] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

His  absence  of  more  than  ten  years 
was  a  period  of  no  little  anxiety  to  his 
family  in  Norwich.  His  letters,  at  long 
intervals,  gave  intimations  year  after 
year  of  hairbreadth  escapes  from  disas- 
trous chances  and  moving  accidents,  but 
they  left  ample  room  for  the  imagina- 
tion to  conjure  up  worse  calamities  that 
might  have  befallen  him.  His  father 
wrote : 

c<  I  am  well  aware  that  your  situation  and 
trials  must  have  been  arduous  and  perplexing, 
and  I  am  concerned  lest  you  shall  be  op- 
pressed beyond  your  health  and  strength 
with  the  immense  concerns  'on  your  hands. 
The  wretched  state  of  the  government  of 
Peru  also  causes  anxiety  for  your  personal 
safety  and  possible  loss  of  property.  The 
greatest  caution,  forecast,  and  watchfulness, 
in  addition  to  constant  application  seem 
necessary  in  the  management  of  such  exten- 
sive concerns.  You  have,  however,  passed 
through  the  school  of  experience  and  have 
given  good  evidence  that  you  have  profited 
[100] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

by  it,  not  only  to  your  friends  in  this  quarter 
of  the  world,  but  to  the  fast  friends  you  have 
made  abroad." 

His  sister  Maria,  speaking  of  their 
parents,  says:  "As  respects  their  chil- 
dren they  have  but  one  wish  ungratified. 
I  need  not  say  it  is  the  return  of  their 
son.  .  .  .  We  have  the  subject  much  at 
heart,  and  we  hope  the  declining  years 
of  our  parents  will  be  cheered  by  having 
you  soon  among  us."  His  happy  return 
in  health  and  prosperity  in  the  month 
of  November  needed  not  the  Gover- 
nor's proclamation  to  make  the  family 
reunion  an  occasion  of  sincere  thanks- 
giving ;  and  it  may  well  be  believed  that 
never  were  the  tales  of  a  traveler,  illus- 
trated with  his  own  sketches,  listened 
to  with  deeper  interest. 

He  had  already  intimated  that  it 
might  become  expedient  for  him  to  go 
to  London  at  an  early  day  at  the  re- 

[101] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

quest  of  Mr.  Huth,  who  desired  to  con- 
sult him  in  regard  to  his  successors  in 
Lima  and  the  expediency  of  establishing 
a  mercantile  house  in  New  York.  The 
perils  and  dangers  of  the  sea  had  no 
more  terrors  for  him,  as  "  in  the  present 
state  of  navigation  the  voyage  to  Europe 
is  little  more  than  a  jaunt  of  pleasure  !  " 
Accordingly  he  sailed  for  London  in 
May,  1829,  much  to  the  regret  of  his 
mother,  whose  maternal  solicitude  was 
not  diminished  by  "  a  dream  that  he 
was  dead,  which  made  her  gloomy  all 
day."  Inasmuch  as  he  survived  her  by 
thirty  years,  her  grandchildren  regret 
that  her  undeviating  sweetness  and  se- 
renity were  disturbed  for  a  moment  by 
the  baseless  fabric  of  a  dream. 

His  father,  who  had  made  a  study  of 
the  culture  of  silkworms,  not  only  theo- 
retically but  by  practical  experiment, 
urged  him  to  investigate  the  methods 
employed  in  Europe.  He  also  desired 
[102] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

him  to  inform  himself  fully  as  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  grape  and  the  making 
of  wine  in  the  countries  through  which 
he  might  pass.  Some  years  later  he 
did  experiment  with  mulberry  trees  and 
silkworms,  but  with  no  more  encourag- 
ing success  than  his  father  had  twenty 
years  earlier.  It  was  demonstrated  that 
silk  could  be  produced,  but  not  with  a 
commercial  profit  at  that  time  for  lack 
of  cheap  labor.  Whatever  knowledge 
he  acquired  of  grape  culture  he  was  en- 
abled to  make  practically  useful  at  a 
subsequent  period  in  Norwich  in  his 
hot-houses.  A  connoisseur  was  heard  to 
say  that  he  doubted  not  for  a  moment 
that  what  Mr.  Coit  offered  him  was  the 
pure  juice  of  the  grape,  but  however 
that  might  be  it  certainly  was  not  wine ! 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
making  either  of  wine  or  of  silk  was 
long  continued. 

Mr.  Coit's  departure  from  New  York 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

was  made  noteworthy  by  circumstances 
that  can  never  occur  again  :  four  beauti- 
ful packet  ships  bound  for  European 
ports,  beating  down  the  bay  within 
pistol-shot  of  each  other,  prepared,  not 
for  an  ocean  race,  but  for  an  "  experi- 
ment "  as  to  their  sailing  qualities ! 
Great  was  the  interest  among  the  pas- 
sengers for  four-and-twenty  hours,  but 
as  the  wind  increased,  the  Columbian — 
it  seems  almost  superfluous  to  say  that 
she  was  Mr.  Coit's  vessel  —  "  walked 
away  from  the  others  and  maintained 
the  high  reputation  she  had  held  as  a 
first-rate  ship  for  speed." 

His  stay  in  Europe  was  prolonged 
much  beyond  his  expectation,  a  possible 
absence  of  one  year  being  extended  to 
three.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  large 
portion  of  his  journal  kept  during  this 
interesting  tour  is  missing,  and  that  but 
few  of  his  letters  from  the  continent 
have  been  found,  but  existing  letters 
[104] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

addressed  to  him  by  members  of  his 
family,  especially  by  his  sister  Maria, 
an  ever  faithful  and  affectionate  corre- 
spondent, indicate  his  travels  in  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  France,  Italy,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  and  on  the  Rhine.  He 
enjoyed  to  the  highest  degree  the  works 
of  art  in  these  countries,  and  not  only 
continued  his  agreeable  pastime  of 
sketching  from  nature,  but  pursued  the 
study  of  art  under  the  best  teachers. 
His  well-filled  portfolios,  and  the  val- 
uable paintings  by  old  masters  which 
he  purchased  and  sent  home,  afforded 
life-long  pleasure  to  himself  and  his 
friends.  Until  his  return  they  covered 
the  walls  of  his  sister  Maria's  house  in 
New  York  and  were  much  admired 
by  many  visitors.  She  speaks  particu- 
larly of  Murillo's  "Holy  Family"  as 
"quite  enchanting  in  a  bright  sunny 
morning,"  and  of  "  Saint  John  with  the 
lamb"  as  one  of  her  special  favorites. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"You  have  all  witnessed,"  writes  his 
brother,  Joshua  Coit,  "  your  uncle's  passion 
for  sketching  from  nature  which  was  one  of 
the  most  enduring  of  his  favorite  pursuits. 
At  one  time  he,  together  with  Mr.  Fisher, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Alleyn  Otis,  of 
Boston,  both  gentlemen  of  culture,  made  a 
tour  through  the  borders  of  the  Rhine,  Switz- 
erland, and  Italy.  They  had  their  own  car- 
riage and  stopped  on  their  route  at  discretion. 
I  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Otis,  who 
used  to  take  pleasure  in  telling  me  of  the 
agreeable,  companionable  qualities  of  my 
brother,  and  of  their  interest  in  witnessing 
his  zeal  in  this  occupation.  Hardly  would 
they  stop  for  rest  or  refreshment,  when  he 
would  be  off,  sketch-book  and  pencil  in  hand, 
for  an  artistic  point  of  view,  and  seldom  failed 
to  bring  away  a  more  or  less  finished  sketch 
and  memento  of  figure  or  landscape." 

His  father  was  deeply  interested  in 
his  travels,  and  followed  him  as  well  as 
he  could  with  "  Moore's  Travels  in 
France  and  Italy,"  —  "a  pleasant 
writer,  whose  observations  on  the  whole 
[106] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

appear  sensible,  natural,  and  amusing." 
Much  as  he  desired  his  son's  return, 
hoping  he  would  "  never  again  leave 
home  for  such  a  distant  excursion,"  he 
nevertheless  encouraged  him  to  make 
the  most  of  "  an  opportunity  that  prob- 
ably would  not  occur  again  to  lay  up 
a  stock  of  information  not  only  as 
respects  business,  but  of  men  and 
manners,  from  which  to  draw  with 
satisfaction,  delight,  and  amusement 
for  a  good  while  to  come."  With 
quiet  humor  he  adds,  "  Should  you  pass 
over  to  Ireland  and  spend  a  few  weeks 
among  that  people  famed  for  their  hos- 
pitality, steer  clear  of  all  mobs,  riots, 
and  so  forth,  and,  finally,  return  in 
safety,  you  will  find  it  an  agreeable  tour, 
and  add  much  to  your  acquirements. 

He  spent  the  month  of  October,  1830, 
in  Switzerland,  and, "  having  done  pen- 
ance   long    enough    in    diligences    and 
public  carriages,  exposed  to  the  smoke 
[107] 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH    COIT 

and  vulgarity  of  disagreeable  people,  he 
bought  a  very  strong  but  at  the  same 
time  very  good  and  handsome  traveling 
carriage,"  that  he  might  move  about 
at  his  convenience,  stopping  when  and 
where  he  pleased  to  make  sketches,  or 
to  walk  across  country  and  climb  moun- 
tains in  search  of  picturesque  effects. 
Rising  with  the  sun  to  secure  a  view 
before  continuing  his  journey,  or  leav- 
ing the  dinner  table  to  make  a  sketch 
from  the  window  of  the  inn,  or  improv- 
ing another  opportunity  before  night- 
fall, he  succeeded  not  infrequently  in 
making  at  least  two  or  three  sketches 
in  a  day. 

His  journal  on  this  tour,  written  in 
pencil  at  night  when  the  impressions  of 
what  he  had  seen  were  still  fresh,  is  free 
from  the  phrases  of  a  guide  book,  and 
from  any  attempt  at  style,  or  "  word 
painting,"  but  is  full  of  remarkably  clear 
and  definite  descriptions  exhibiting  fine 

[io*j 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

discrimination  and  quick  perceptions, 
enlivened,  moreover,  with  humorous 
incidents  of  the  day's  travel.  Had  he 
been  working  for  his  bread  and  butter 
like  a  commercial  traveler,  he  could 
not  have  been  more  indefatigable  in 
his  pursuit  of  the  picturesque,  "  in  this 
country  where  there  was  every  requi- 
site for  a  beautiful  picture  and  a  new 
one  at  every  step." 

Naturally  he  was  impressed  with  the 
contrast  between  these  scenes  and  those 
he  was  familiar  with  in  South  America. 

4 

He  says,  "Nothing  I  have  yet  seen  in 
Switzerland  is  to  be  compared  with  the 
dangers  of  some  of  the  mountains  of 
Peru  and  Chile."  Nevertheless,  after 
passing  through  "scenes  from  which 
Salvator  Rosa  himself  might  have  caught 
an  idea,"  in  crossing  the  Gemmi  with 
its  frightful,  precipitous  galleries  over- 
hung with  rocks,  where  he  devoted  two 
hours  to  making  a  sketch,  "he  felt 
[109] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

much  satisfaction  when  emerging  into 
the  valley  in  thinking  he  was  out  of  the 
reach  of  dangers  that  are  after  all  more 
imaginary  than  real,  something  like  that 
which  one  experiences  after  a  good, 
hearty  shock  of  earthquake." 

The  beautiful,  the  picturesque,  always 
appealed  to  him  more  strongly  than  the 
awful  and  sublime. 

"  I  have  seen  sufficient  of  the  Alps  to  de- 
termine that  the  Andes  are  not  to  compare 
with  them  in  point  of  beauty.  I  speak  of 
course  of  such  parts  of  the  Andes  as  I  have 
seen,  having  crossed  them  no  less  than  five 
times  in  Peru  and  Chile.  One  marked  and 
all  important  difference  is  that  the  Andes,  at 
least  in  a  great  part  of  Chile  and  particularly 
in  Peru,  on  the  side  of  the  Pacific  are  quite 
barren,  hardly  producing  grass  except  in  the 
higher  parts,  and  no  trees  whatever,  except 
fruit  trees  in  the  valleys.  Even  to  their  very 
base,  they  are  nothing  but  rocks  and  sand, 
the  pictures  of  dreariness  and  desolation. 

On  the  contrary,  nothing  can  be  more 
[no] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

beautiful  than  the  vegetation  on  these  moun- 
tains. Wherever  there  is  the  least  soil  on 
the  almost  perpendicular  ascents  there  are 
cultivations,  or  at  least  bushes  and  clumps 
of  firs ;  indeed,  whole  groves  of  trees  are 
sustained  on  the  nearly  perpendicular  sides 
to  an  immense  height  in  a  manner  truly 
surprising,  so  as  constantly  to  attract  your 
attention  and  call  forth  your  admiration." 

The  traveler  in  his  absence  was  not 
unmindful  to  gratify  his  sisters  from 
time  to  time  with  such  gifts  as  young 
ladies  would  especially  appreciate,  nor 
did  he  fail  to  remember  generously  his 
sister  Maria's  "  Poor  Widows'  Society." 

The  alarming  illness  of  his  father 
while  still  suffering  from  a  broken  leg 
increased  the  anxiety  of  his  mother  and 
sisters  for  the  traveler's  return.  Al- 
though not  a  murmur  escaped  his  fa- 
ther's lips,  his  mother  cried,  "Oh,  if 
Daniel  were  here  what  a  support  he 
would  be  to  me." 

[in] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

His  sister  Maria  wrote: 

"  My  dear  brother,  when  shall  we  see  you 
back  again  ?  I  begin  to  feel  some  of  that 
impatience  with  which  I  waited  your  re- 
turn from  the  Pacific.  I  have  sometimes 
thought  it  a  little  strange  considering  our 
long  separations  and  the  little  time  we  have 
spent  together  that  my  attachment  should  be 
so  strong  for  you.  But  true  it  is  that  you 
are  very  dear  to  my  heart,  and  I  look  for- 
ward to  your  return  and  to  your  residence 
among  us  as  one  of  the  most  pleasing  inci- 
dents of  my  future  life." 

His  father  wrote  to  Maria  in  June, 
1832: 

"  We  shall  all  be  in  readiness  to  receive 
your  long-absent  brother  with  open  arms 
and  hearts,  which  may  Heaven  grant  in  due 
time." 

And  his  brother  Joshua: 

"  Length  of  time  and   distance  of  place 
have  by   no  means    diminished  the  esteem 
and  affection  which  all  the  members  of  the 
family  possess  for  you." 
[1.2] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

That  Mr.  Coit  at  this  time  contem- 
plated returning  to  Italy  to  continue  the 
study  of  art,  appears  from  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  George  M.  Woolsey  to  Mrs.  Perit. 
After  speaking  of  the  pleasure  she  and 
Mr.  Woolsey  had  in  seeing  him  in  Eng- 
land, she  continues : 

"  If  my  life  is  spared  I  shall  hope  to  see 
him  here  again,  but  I  have  told  him  my 
hopes  and  wishes  in  regard  to  his  future 
plans,  and  I  hope  he  will  profit  by  my  hints. 
To  see  him  here  unaccompanied  by  any 
friend  less  dear  than  a  sister  I  should  regret, 
for  I  should  then  fear  he  would  put  his  own 
plans  into  execution  and  return  to  Italy  for 
the  purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  his  fa- 
vorite pursuit.  This  we  must  endeavor  to 
prevent.  We  must  persuade  him  of  the  fact 
that  he  can  be  more  usefully  and  more  hap- 
pily engaged  (even  in  this  pursuit)  in  his 
own  country." 

Although  it  might  have  been  late  in 
life  for  a  beginner  to  undertake  the 
study  of  art  as  a  profession,  there  can  be 

8  " 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

little  doubt  of  Mr.  Coit's  success  had 
he  chosen  to  adopt  it,  for  he  was  no 
novice.  His  interest  in  art  continued 
through  many  years,  and  the  skill  he 
had  acquired  by  unremitting  practice 
with  pencil  and  brush  had  already  ad- 
vanced him  beyond  the  rank  of  amateurs. 

At  last,  in  July,  1832,  the  returned 
traveler  had  the  happiness  of  finding 
his  father  in  greatly  improved  health 
and  of  receiving  a  cordial  welcome 
from  an  unbroken  family  circle.  His 
winning  and  convincing  manner  in  pre- 
senting business  propositions  to  strangers 
we  have  already  seen  to  be  remarkable. 
Still  more  interesting  is  the  firm  hold 
he  retained  on  the  affection  of  all 
his  family,  notwithstanding  the  new 
attachments  they  had  formed  during 
his  exile,  which  seems  to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  adage,  "  absence  makes 
the  heart  grow  fonder." 

The  summer  of  1 832  was  the  dreaded 
["4] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

cholera  season  in  New  York.  As  neither 
duty  nor  necessity  compelled  the  broth- 
ers, Daniel  and  Joshua,  to  remain  in 
the  city,  they  spent  some  time  under 
the  elms,  to  the  great  gratification  of 
their  parents.  Their  mother  wrote: 

"  Our  dear  sons  are  with  us,  and  I  think 
are  enjoying  themselves.  Daniel  has  had 
two  or  three  hunting  excursions,  quite  in 
style,  and,  though  he  complains  of  dearth  of 
game,  has  given  us  several  nice  dishes  of 
wood  cocks  and  partridges.  Strawberries  are 
abundant  and  a  luxury  for  him.  Joshua  fills 
up  the  time  with  books.  They  have  now 
gone  to  ride." 

In  November,  1833,  a  year  after  his 
return,  occurred  the  death  of  his  father, 
an  event  not  wholly  unexpected  but 
the  first  break  in  the  family  circle,  and 
his  presence  at  that  time  was  a  great 
comfort  to  his  bereaved  mother. 

His  sister  Maria,  herself  happily  mar- 
ried, had  more  than  once  expressed  her 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

desire  to  see  him  in  the  enjoyment  of 
equal  felicity.  When  he  was  in  South 
America,  hearing  that  a  friend  of  his 
had  married  a  Spanish  woman,  she  felt 
"pretty  confident  that  he  would  be  con- 
tent only  with  one  of  his  own  country- 
women." There  are  allusions  to  "  Har- 
riet," who  had  passed  the  day  with  her, 
and  to  "  Harriet,  the  only  daughter, 
a  pleasant  girl  and  quite  a  charming 
child."  And  again  referring  to  her 
mother's  wifely  devotion,  she  says : 

"  Had  you  seen  her  I  think  even  you 
would  have  acknowledged  that  a  good  wife 
is  a  valuable  acquisition.  How  often  have  I 
wished  you  had  such  a  treasure !  I  appre- 
ciate your  domestic  qualities  too  highly  to 
feel  satisfied  with  your  leading  a  single  life, 
and  I  mention  the  subject  to  you  often, 
though  selfishness  might  prompt  to  silence." 

How  far  an  intimacy  was  promoted 
by  her  gentle  influence  does  not  appear, 
but  the  autobiography  informs  us  that 
[1.6] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

he  "  settled  down  as  a  married  man " 
in  September,  1834,  when  "Harriet 
Frances,  daughter  of  Levi  Coit,  and 
granddaughter  of  Joseph  Rowland, 
both  old  merchants  of  New  York," 
became  his  wife.  Her  mother,  Lydia 
Howland  Coit,  was  his  own  cousin. 

The  center  of  fashion  in  New  York 
at  that  time  was  "  above  Bleecker 
Street,"  in  the  neighborhood  of  "  the 
Parade  Ground,"  as  Washington  Square 
was  then  called,  and  here  the  bridal  pair 
made  their  home  in  Washington  Place, 
near  Broadway,  which  reached  its  ex- 
treme northern  limit  at  Fourteenth 
Street,  and  here  they  were  surrounded 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  cousins. 
Mr.  Coit's  early  love  of  rural  life  and 
occupations  was  so  far  revived  that  after 
two  years  he  bought  an  estate  at  New 
Rochelle,  seventeen  miles  distant  from 
the  city,  where  he  was  as  successful  as 
of  old  in  the  cultivation  of  peaches  and 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

pears.  At  New  Rochelle  were  born 
his  two  elder  children, — Elizabeth  Bill 
and  Charles  Woolsey. 

At  a  somewhat  earlier  period,  Octo- 
ber 25,  1833,  an  event  occurred  which 
afterwards  proved  to  be  of  great  impor- 
tance. It  is  thus  described  in  his  brother 
Joshua's  "  Reminiscences  "  : 

"  He  went  on  a  western  tour  for  the  pur- 
pose of  grouse  shooting,  a  variety  of  game 
which,  under  the  name  of  prairie  chickens, 
abounded  in  the  then  unsettled  prairies  of 
Michigan.  He  fell  in  with  a  commissioner 
of  the  United  States  who  was  engaged  in 
locating  some  lands  for  the  government  of- 
fices and  county  seats  in  that  state,  then  a 
territory.  As  the  commissioner  proved  to 
be  a  brother  sportsman,  they  partook  of  the 
pursuit  of  grouse  together.  In  the  course 
of  the  trip  his  companion  told  my  brother 
he  could  not  do  better  than  invest  a  few 
thousand  dollars  in  government  lands  in  well 
selected  sites,  which  would  at  least  serve  to 
[M8J 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

defray  the  expenses  of  his  excursion.  My 
brother  thought  favorably  of  the  suggestion. 
He  proceeded,  however,  as  far  as  the  rapids 
of  Grand  River,  where  he  found  an  old 
French  Indian  trader,  Campau  by  name, 
who  had  long  before  settled  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  was  the  only  landowner  of  note 
living  there.  He  took  great  interest  in  my 
brother's  skill  in  shooting  and  knowledge  of 
wood  craft,  invited  him  to  his  house,  pointed 
out  the  advantages  the  place  had  for  settle- 
ment, aided  him  in  selecting  desirable  land, 
and  the  result  was  he  made  extensive  pur- 
chases there.  The  place  was  soon  made  the 
county  seat ;  it  has  since  become  an  impor- 
tant manufacturing  town,  and  this  shooting 
excursion  thus  led  to  a  purchase  which  has 
become  the  main  dependence  of  his  family." 

Uninterrupted  prosperity  through  a 
long  life  is  the  lot  of  very  few  men  of 
affairs,  and  Mr.  Coit  did  not  escape  the 
calamities  which  prevailed  throughout 
the  country  in  the  period  since  known 
as  the  hard  times  of  1837.  The  par- 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

ticular  causes  that  led  to  his  misfortunes 
need  not  here  be  inquired  into.  A  few 
words  from  his  autobiography  tell  all 
that  we  know : 

"  Unfortunately,  in  a  few  years  I  lost  the 
property  I  had  acquired  abroad,  and  was 
under  long-continued  embarrassment.  I  will 
not  enlarge  on  so  unprofitable  a  subject ; 
suffice  it  to  say  that  I  was  glad  to  accept  a 
proposition  of  my  mother  to  take  up  my 
abode  with  her  in  the  old  family  mansion, 
with  little  expectation  that  I  should  again  be 
known  in  the  haunts  of  business." 

The  summer  of  1841  found  him  re- 
established with  his  wife  and  children 
under  his  mother's  roof,  the  home  of 
his  boyhood,  beginning  life  anew  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four,  impoverished  indeed, 
but  with  undaunted  spirit  and  courage. 
With  no  less  zeal  than  he  had  given  to 
business  interests  involving  millions,  he 
now  applied  himself  with  all  his  might 
to  the  cultivation  of  his  gardens  and 
[120] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

orchards ;  and  in  this,  as  in  all  his  affairs, 
acting  on  the  maxim  that  "  unceasing 
care  and  vigilance  were  the  indispen- 
sable requisites  of  success,"  he  soon 
established  a  reputation  in  the  markets 
as  a  most  successful  producer  of  choice 
fruits  and  vegetables. 

With  patience  and  Christian  fortitude 
he  accepted  a  situation  that  would  have 
been  humiliating  after  his  twice  seven 
years  of  prosperity,  his  well-earned  holi- 
day in  Europe,  and  the  auspicious  begin- 
ning of  his  married  life,  had  he  not 
been  sustained  by  consciousness  of  his 
own  integrity,  by  his  naturally  hopeful 
temperament,  and  by  domestic  happi- 
ness in  his  old  home  in  the  town  he 
loved  so  well. 

But  on  the  whole,  the  years  passed 
slowly,  and  his  vision  sought  a  wider 
horizon  in  the  west  where  were  allur- 
ing prospects  of  new  fortunes.  He 
made  several  excursions  to  the  middle 

1 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

western  territories,  then,  only  seventy 
years  ago,  a  wilderness ;  and,  among 
other  ventures  on  the  prairies  of  Iowa, 
beyond  the  Mississippi  River,  he 
began  sheep-farming,  in  which  he 
saw  great  prospective  profits.  More 
encouraging  and  more  substantial  was 
the  gradual  development  of  his  prop- 
erty at  Grand  Rapids,  which,  though 
at  times  a  heavy  burden,  he  was  fortu- 
nately able  to  retain.  In  his  quiet 
retirement  under  the  elms  he  found 
abundant  occupation ;  he  welcomed 
his  friends  and  relatives  with  courtly 
hospitality,  and  maintained  constant  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
the  church  in  the  "first  parish,"  which 
he  had  joined,  and  in  its  Sunday-school. 
Edmund  Clarence  Stedman,  who 
warmly  encouraged  the  writing  of  this 
memoir,  shortly  before  his  death  fur- 
nished this  little  memory  picture  of 
Mr.  Coit  after  more  than  sixty  years: 
[122] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  How  fine  to  have  those  letters  by  my 
dear  old  Sunday  School  teacher,  Mr.  D.  W. 
Coit !  I  say  old,  but  of  course  I  must  be  a 
score  of  years  the  senior  of  that  affectionately 
delightful,  travelled  Mentor,  at  the  age  when 
he  made  even  Puritanism  attractive  to  me. 
I  prized,  too,  the  visits  to  his  house  on  the 
hill,  where  he  showed  me  drawings  —  my 
first  glimpses  of  art  —  and  told  wondrous 
tales  of  moneys  gained  in  South  America, 
and  necessarily  brought  away  by  stratagem. 
I  must  then  have  been  about  twelve  or  thir- 
teen, say  1845-6,  and  I  clearly  remember 
that  he  went  to  Mexico  afterwards,  to  recruit 
his  fortune,  and  that  he  of  course  came  back 
in  time  with  another  sackful  of  melted  silver. 
His  story  would  make  a  winsome  book  for 
young  or  old." 

It  is  not  strange  that  in  his  letters  to 
his  wife  in  these  repeated  western  jour- 
neys he  was  always  solicitous  for  her 
health  and  happiness  and  for  the  wel- 
fare of  their  children.  That  was  to  be 
expected  of  course,  but  most  interesting 
and  characteristic  are  his  minute  direc- 
[I23] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

tions  in  regard  to  the  garden  and  fruit 
orchard ;  how  the  strawberry  beds  shall 
be  treated;  when  certain  melons  shall 
be  picked  and  brought  in  to  ripen  on 
a  particular  shelf  in  a  sunny  window ; 
where  the  ruta-bagas  shall  be  planted; 
and  the  special  attention  that  shall  be 
given  to  a  certain  tree  on  which  is  a 
graft  with  only  three  pears  that  must 
be  nearly  ripe  and  must  be  carefully 
picked  by  hand  and  kept  until  his  re- 
turn. 

These  journeys  to  the  western  coun- 
try gave  him  the  opportunity  he  had 
long  desired  of  visiting  his  brother 
Henry  at  his  home  near  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

The  contrast  in  the  interesting  ca- 
reers of  the  two  brothers  is  specially 
noteworthy. 

Daniel,  as  has  been  seen,  thoroughly 
trained  to  scrupulous  exactness  in  vast 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

business  enterprises  ;  bold  but  cautious ; 
able  to  direct  large  affairs,  while  atten- 
tive to  details ;  inured  to  hardship  on 
the  land  and  on  the  sea,  yet  retaining 
the  hand  and  perceptions  of  an  artist ; 
capable  of  roughing  it  in  the  Andes 
with  Spanish  herdsmen  and  muleteers, 
and  of  meeting  on  even  terms  bankers 
and  merchants  of  distinction,  was 
equally  at  home  in  his  orchard  and  in 
the  brilliant  capitals  of  Europe. 

Henry,  amiable,  affectionate,  gener- 
ous, early  established  in  domestic  life 
on  his  father's  lands  in  the  Western 
Reserve, — the  so-called  "  Land  of  Prom- 
ise," the  land  of  great  expectations  and 
of  great  disappointments,  —  widely  sep- 
arated from  his  parents  and  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  from  the  home  of  his  boy- 
hood; a  fast  friend,  a  good  neighbor,  a 
useful  citizen ;  always  enterprising  and 
always  hopeful,  endured  hardships  and 
privations  in  the  wilderness  undismayed 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

by  the  inevitable  reverses  that  are  the 
fate  of  all  pioneer  settlers. 

Unlike  as  the  brothers  were  in  their 
environment  and  manner  of  life,  they 
were  alike  in  their  devotion  to  those  to 
whom  they  were  specially  bound  by 
ties  of  kindred  and  affection,  in  their 
strict  integrity,  and  in  their  loyalty  to 
the  principles  of  true  virtue  and  godli- 
ness of  living  in  which  they  had  been 
nurtured  in  their  childhood. 

They  were  alike  also  in  their  fond- 
ness for  out-of-doors  avocations,  and  in 
their  gardens  and  fruit  yards  they  found, 
with  Lord  Bacon,  "  the  purest  of  human 
pleasures,  and  the  greatest  refreshment 
to  the  spirits  of  man."  No  new  variety 
of  fruit  or  improved  method  of  cultiva- 
tion ever  escaped  their  watchful  eyes. 

A  sister  of  theirs  who  inherited  the 
same  family  trait  had  in  the  backyard 
of  her  city  house  a  grapevine  which 
she  had  grown  from  a  cutting  secured 

[1*6] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

from  her  next  neighbor.  The  elder 
brother,  visiting  her,  said :  "  Sister,  I 
see  you  have  a  promising  young  grape- 
vine, but  it  has  not  been  well  trimmed. 
If  you  will  allow  me  I  will  take  my 
knife  and  cut  away  all  the  old  wood, 
and  the  result  will  be  more  and  better 
grapes."  "  Certainly,  brother,"  she  said, 
"  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  do  what 
you  think  best."  A  few  months  later 
came  the  younger  brother,  with  critical 
eye,  and  said :  "  Sister,  I  was  sorry  to 
see  that  your  grapevine  —  an  Isabella,  I 
believe — had  been  neglected  and  needed 
trimming.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
cutting  away  all  the  old  wood,  and  now 
I  think  you  will  find  it  greatly  im- 
proved." She  said,  "  Thank  you  very 
much,  brother."  But  the  younger  gen- 
eration never  ceased  to  wonder  where 
the  grapes  would  come  from  if  all.  the 
old  wood  was  cut  away  twice  in  one 
year. 

[127] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

The  revolving  wheel  of  fortune,  in 
January,  1848,  opened  a  new  chapter 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  Coit  not  less  inter- 
esting than  those  that  had  preceded  it. 
In  response  to  a  telegraphic  invitation 
from  his  friends  and  kinsmen,  Rowland 
&  Aspinwall,  he  left  his  home  at  short 
notice  to  engage  in  a  confidential  finan- 
cial enterprise  in  their  behalf  in  the  city 
of  Mexico,  and  embarked  in  a  sailing 
vessel  for  Vera  Cruz  by  way  of  the 
island  of  Jamaica.  The  voyage  of  thirty 
days  was  so  long  and  tedious  that,  not- 
withstanding his  experience  on  the 
ocean,  he  was  never  so  miserable  on 
shipboard  before.  Attempting  to  de- 
scribe the  wretchedness  of  the  situation, 
he  says  :  "  Oh,  how  fatiguing,  how  nau- 
seating, how  every  way  unpleasant,  is  a 
long,  hard  gale  at  sea !  "  On  a  Sunday, 
the  worst  day  of  all,  he  remained  in  his 
berth,  and,  as  many  a  traveler  has  done, 
derived  such  comfort  as  he  could  from 

[128] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

the  one  hundred  and  seventh  psalm, 
"  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships "  ;  but  he  did  not  find  even  that 
a  sovereign  remedy. 

His  journey  over  two  hundred  miles 
on  horseback  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico 
was  perilous  on  account  of  the  lawless 
bands  of  guerrillas  that  infested  the 
road ;  but  having  provided  himself 
with  a  suitable  horse,  a  Mexican  saddle, 
blankets,  and  accoutrements,  he  set  off 
"quite  a  la  Spagno/e."  "This  used  to 
be  very  pleasant,"  he  adds,  "  but  I  assure 
you  there  is  no  longer  the  least  romance 
about  it  at  all."  By  powerful  influence 
he  was  enabled  to  attach  himself  to  a 
government  train  of  about  eighty  four- 
horse  army  wagons  carrying  supplies  to 
the  capital  under  an  escort  of  two  hun- 
dred soldiers.  The  annoyances  and  per- 
plexities, the  nameless  horrors  he  now 
experienced,  not  only  in  the  inevitable 
discomforts  of  the  road,  but  in  the  com- 
9  [129] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

pany  of  dissolute  and  blasphemous  troops 
and  wagoners  from  whom  escape  was 
impossible,  made  his  expedition  over 
the  South  American  Cordilleras  seem  in 
comparison  like  a  pleasure  trip. 

The  fatiguing  journey  was  interrupted 
by  a  short  stay  at  Jalapa,  where  it  was 
once  more  his  good  fortune  to  renew 
his  acquaintance  with  one  of  his  former 
friends  in  Lima,  a  Mr.  Kennedy,  by 
whom  he  was  hospitably  entertained. 

The  city  of  Mexico  at  the  time  of 
his  arrival  was  occupied  by  the  victori- 
ous army  of  the  United  States  under 
General  Winfield  Scott.  An  armistice 
had  been  concluded,  and  as  the  troops 
were  comparatively  idle  pending  the 
signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  disorder 
and  vice  were  prevalent  in  the  city  to  a 
degree  that  exceeded  anything  that  he 
had  ever  seen  either  in  South  America 
or  in  Europe. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

Not  long  after  his  arrival  he  witnessed 
the  evacuation  of  Mexico  by  General 
Scott's  army  with  imposing  ceremonies, 
exchange  of  salutes,  and  all  the  honors 
of  war.  He  said  he  was  never  so  home- 
sick in  his  life  and  wished  he  could  go 
home  also. 

"  I  would  gladly  turn  my  face  tomorrow 
towards  old,  unpretending  Norwich  rather 
than  to  the  finest  city  the  world  has  to  boast 
of,  not  excepting  this  far  famed  city  of  the 
Montezumas.  ...  I  find  a  vast  difference 
in  my  feelings  and  views  now  from  what  ex- 
isted in  my  former  travels ;  there  was  a 
compensation  then,  in  being  absent  from 
one's  country  and  family,  but  nothing  what- 
ever abroad  can  now  make  any  tolerable 
amends  for  absence  from  wife,  family  and 
home,  though  my  duty  regarding  pecuniary 
considerations  renders  it  necessary  for  me  to 
be  yet  some  time  absent.  .  .  . 

"  Taking  into  view  all  the  encomiums  I 
had  heard  of  this  city  I  expected  to  find 
it  very  superior  to  Lima ;  it  is  larger  and 
somewhat  better  built ;  there  are  more  large 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

and  showy  streets  and  houses,  but  neither 
the  climate  nor  the  location  are,  in  my  view, 
equal  to  those  of  Lima,  and  the  morals  and 
general  character  of  the  people  are,  I  think, 
decidedly  worse." 

His  financial  and  commercial  business 
in  Mexico  consisted  in  negotiating  drafts 
and  making  remittances,  and  was  con- 
ducted through  the  firm  of  William 
Drusina  &  Co.  in  whose  house  he  had 
comfortable  lodgings  and  through  whom 
he  was  introduced  to  the  most  agreeable 
society,  both  of  Mexicans  and  foreign- 
ers, that  the  city  afforded. 

In  Mexico,  his  knowledge  of  the 
Spanish  language,  which  had  grown 
rusty,  came  back  to  him,  and,  much 
to  his  advantage,  he  could  soon  "speak 
it  famously." 

In  October,  1848,  having  "still  two 
long  months,  long  in  prospective,  to 
look  forward  to,"  he  quoted  Young's 
"Night  Thoughts"  on  the  slow  ap- 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

proach  of  "Time,  creeping  decrepit 
with  his  age/'  and  anticipated  his 
speedy  return  home  on  "broad  pin- 
ions swifter  than  the  wind."  He  goes 
on  to  say: 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  however,  my  time 
does  not  pass  either  unprofitably  or  disagree- 
ably, and,  with  the  exception  of  separation 
from  you,  which  is,  to  be  sure,  a  sad  draw- 
back, I  may  say,  pleasantly.  I  have  the 
satisfaction  of  reflecting  that  I  am  accomplish- 
ing something  substantial  for  your  benefit  at 
very  little  cost  of  labor,  while  my  leisure 
moments  are  usefully  occupied  with  the 
pencil  in  illustrating  this  celebrated  city  and 
its  neighborhood  in  a  manner  which,  so  far 
as  I  know,  has  not  been  before  attempted, 
and  which  may  result  in  considerable 
pecuniary  advantage." 

The  sketches  that  he  made  at  this 
time,  more  than  thirty  in  number,  are 
of  peculiar  value  and  interest,  not  only 
as  faithful  representations  of  the  scenes 
that  were  before  him,  but  as  examples 
['33] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of  the  artistic  perception  which  enabled 
him  to  select  for  his  pencil,  almost  in- 
stinctively, the  best  points  of  view  for 
picturesque  effects  whether  of  buildings 
or  of  landscapes.  He  had  indeed  rare 
skill,  such  as  few  amateurs  possess,  in 
an  art  which,  since  the  advent  of  pho- 
tographic cameras,  is  becoming  one  of 
the  lost  arts. 

Continuing  to  speak  of  his  sketches, 
shortly  before  leaving  Mexico  he 
wrote : 

"  I  get  a  drive  occasionally  to  one  or  other 
of  the  villages  in  this  neighborhood.  They 
originated  in  the  time  of  the  Spaniards  and 
great  wealth  was  bestowed  on  large  churches 
and  convents  with  extensive  gardens  and 
orchards.  The  houses  are  built  of  corre- 
sponding size  and  architecture,  enclosing  one 
or  more  courts  filled  with  orange,  lemon,  and 
other  ornamental  trees  and  shrubbery  and 
fountains  in  the  center.  One  of  my  last 
sketches  was  of  a  court  of  this  kind.  It  is 
one  of  the  smallest  but  every  foot  of  it  is 

[134] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

occupied  with  objects  of  interest,  and  it  is  a 
perfect  little  gem  of  itself.  It  has  been  a 
laborious  thing  to  sketch  and  much  more  to 
fill  up  afterwards  with  so  much  detail,  but 
as  it  is  different  from  anything  we  have, 
I  think  it  will  please,  and  pay  for  the 
trouble.  .  .  . 

"  I  shall  probably  send  home  my  sketches 
ere  I  leave  for  the  west  coast  with  some  curi- 
osities and  paintings  I  have  succeeded  in 
obtaining,  the  most  curious  of  which  are  a 
set  of  rich  tapestry  hangings,  originally  sent 
by  the  King  of  Spain  to  a  rich  Mexican  as  a 
return  for  a  large  amount  of  bars  of  silver 
he  had  sent  the  King.  The  subjects  are 
very  humorous,  representing  the  most  amus- 
ing passages  in  the  life  of  Don  Quixote.  .  .  . 
There  are  seven  of  these  hangings,  quite 
large ;  the  largest,  some  eighteen  feet  long, 
by  nine  or  ten  feet  in  height.  .  .  .  They 
are  in  the  worst  possible  condition  to  be  seen, 
and  those  who  know  nothing  about  them, 
and  how  far  they  are  capable  with  proper 
treatment  of  being  restored,  would,  I  well 
know  be  much  inclined  to  turn  up  their 
noses  and  pronounce  them  rubbish.  They 

[•35] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

are  also  broken  in  many  places,  and  are  more 
or  less  faded  ;  but  all  this  is  capable  of  being 
remedied  to  a  considerable  degree.  .  .  .  They 
came  into  my  possession  in  a  curious  way, 
as  you  shall  hear  some  day.  .  .  .  The  paiflt- 
ings,  also,  are  in  a  very  bad  state,  though 
capable  of  restoration." 

Twenty-five  years  later,  when  he  was 
in  his  eighty-eighth  year,  he  told  the 
story  in  a  letter  to  his  cousin,  Mrs. 
George  C.  Ripley  of  Minneapolis, 
which,  happily,  has  been  preserved  to 
this  day. 

NORWICH,  May  13,  1875. 

MY  DEAR  COUSIN,  —  I  acknowledge  with 
pleasure  your  note  of  Saturday  last  in  which 
you  ask  for  some  "  historical  points "  in 
regard  to  the  tapestries  which  I  possess.  .  .  . 
I  have  no  doubt  a  very  pretty  story  might 
be  constructed  out  of  their  lives,  and  that, 
without  infringing  upon  strict  truthfulness. 
.  .  .  Their  checkered  history  involves  in 
its  course  stranger  vicissitudes  than  ever 
happened  to  their  like  before.  Fancy  them 
in  all  their  early  freshness  and  beauty,  adorn- 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

ing  the  walls  of  the  palace  at  Madrid,  or 
perhaps  the  Escurial,  throwing  into  shadow 
for  the  moment  the  wonderful  productions 
of  Murillo  and  others  of  the  most  celebrated 
masters  of  art.  .  .  .  How  long  they  main- 
tained this  high  elevation  we  cannot  tell ;  it 
might  have  been  for  a  hundred  years,  or  it 
might  have  been  not  half  that  period,  but 
certain  it  is,  the  day  of  their  decadence  had 
at  length  arrived,  and  now  comes  in  the  his- 
tory of  my  acquaintance  with  them  and 
finally  my  possession  of  them. 

You  have  doubtless  heard  of  a  visit  I 
made  to  the  city  of  Mexico  some  twenty-five 
years  ago.  Now  it  has  always  been  my  cus- 
tom wherever  I  have  been  in  the  Spanish 
cities  of  America,  to  be  looking  about  if  by 
any  chance  I  might  stumble  upon  an  original 
picture  by  one  of  the  old  masters  which  were 
known  to  have  been  formerly  sent  from  Spain 
for  the  use  of  the  churches.  It  so  happened 
that  in  one  of  these  searches  I  entered  into  a 
painter's  shop,  a  large  lofty  apartment,  where 
to  my  great  surprise  I  found  the  rough  walls 
adorned  with  these  rare  and  beautiful  crea- 
tions of  art.  .  .  .  Of  course  I  enquired  what 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

strange  circumstance  had  brought  them  into 
this  queer  place,  when  the  following  history 
was  given  me. 

Some  rich  person  (I  think  the  head  of  a 
noble  family)  had  rendered  important  services 
to  the  King  of  Spain,  and  these  tapestries 
were  sent  as  a  testimonial  of  his  appreciation 
of  those  services.  This  rich  man  died,  and 
so  little  importance  was  attached  to  the 
tapestries,  that  by  some  strange  freak  they 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Padre,  or  priest  of 
the  family,  and  by  him  they  were  transferred 
to  my  friend  the  painter. 

I  had  some  other  transactions  with  him, 
and  frequently  visited  the  place  for  my  grati- 
fication, never  dreaming  of  becoming  the 
purchaser  of  articles  so  valuable  (I  had  been 
told  a  valuation  of  $7000  had  been  put  upon 
them),  when  one  day  the  painter  dropped  in 
upon  me  to  ask  a  favor  :  he  was  much  pressed 
for  a  little  ready  cash,  and  if  I  would  accom- 
modate him  he  would  deposit  in  my  hands 
as  security  a  couple  of  these  tapestries.  Of 
course  I  did  so,  and  it  was  not  many  days 
before  the  request  was  repeated  with  the 
same  result,  and  now  it  flashed  upon  my 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

mind  that  they  would  eventually  be  mine, 
and  so  it  was.  A  proposition  soon  came  to 
me  which  I  gladly  embraced,  and  thus  you 
have  the  history  of  the  tapestries  so  far  as  I 
know. 

Pray  excuse  the  delay  in  replying  to  your 
request,  and  believe  me, 

Affectionately  yours, 

D.  W.  COIT. 
i 

If  this  is  partly  conjecture,  it  is  nev- 
ertheless a  very  pretty  story  as  it  stands, 
and  may  it  not  be  asserted  with  confi- 
dence that  invention  is  the  mother  of 
history  ? 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1848,  when 
his  engagement  with  Rowland  &  As- 
pinwall  was  about  to  expire,  and  he  was 
looking  homeward  with  longing  eyes, 
he,  and  indeed  the  whole  world,  was 
astounded  with  reports  that  seemed 
almost  chimerical  of  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California.  After  vain  endeav- 


ors  to  persuade  his  friends  in  New  York 
to  undertake  a  new  enterprise  with  him 
in  California,  he  closed  with  a  proposal 
made  by  Mr.  Drusina,  with  whom  he 
was  then  on  terms  of  friendly  intimacy, 
to  proceed  overland  to  the  Pacific  coast 
and  thence  by  steamer  to  San  Francisco 
with  a  view  of  purchasing  gold  dust 
which  the  miners  would  willingly  ex- 
change at  less  than  its  value  for  silver 
coin  that  was  readily  convertible  into 
the  necessaries  of  life. 

In  this  business  he  and  Mr.  Drusina 
were  representatives  of  the  Rothschilds, 
the  eminent  European  bankers,  and  as 
such  were  supplied  with  ample  capital 
and  credit.  Mr.  Coit  was  to  receive  a 
liberal  commission  on  all  purchases  and 
shipments,  and  the  prospect  thus  pre- 
sented to  him  of  realizing  a  comfortable 
fortune  was  so  flattering  that  he  had  no 
alternative  but  to  accept  it.  His  disap- 
pointment was  great,  however,  that  his 

[HO] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

friends  in  New  York  would  not  engage 
with  him  in  this  business,  which,  he 
believed,  would  be  profitable,  and  he 
thus  wrote  to  his  wife : 

"  When  I  received  my  discouraging  letters 
from  the  house,  all  my  bright  plans  and  pros- 
pects appeared  for  the  moment  blasted,  and 
I  had,  I  assure  you,  the  most  gloomy  day  I 
have  experienced  since  I  have  been  in  Mexico; 
but  what  short  sighted  beings  we  are !  We 
never  can  see  much  beyond  the  length  of 
our  noses,  and  often  when  appearances  are 
most  unfavorable  they  are  working  for  our 
ultimate  good.  I  passed  as  I  have  said  a 
very  dull  day,  but  called  on  Mr.  Drusina  the 
following  morning  and  told  him  the  course 
the  business  had  taken.  Perhaps  he  saw 
that  I  looked  more  sober  than  usual,  for  he 
said,  'you  know  I  am  very  busy,  and  until  I 
get  off  my  packet  letters  I  can  say  nothing, 
but  just  write  to  Mrs.  Coit  in  general  terms, 
that  you  will  still  be  able  to  carry  out  your 
views  with  no  loss  to  your  prospects  !'  Was 
not  this  noble,  and  is  there  not  besides,  this 
pleasant  reflection  in  it,  aside  from  any 

[HI] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

pecuniary  consideration,  that  the  moment 
almost  that  I  leave  my  humble  retirement, 
and,  without  any  means,  am  thrown  among 
strangers,  I  am  able  to  form  friendships  and 
inspire  confidence  such  as  the  foregoing  indi- 
cates ?  Still,  my  dear  wife,  I  have  learned  to 
look  with  distrust  on  all  brilliant  prospects, 
and,  even  now,  in  this  matter  which  puts  on 
so  bright  an  appearance,  I  may  from  some 
unexpected  cause  meet  disappointment ;  but 
as  it  appears  clearly  the  leading  of  a  kind 
providence  so  it  should  be  received  and  acted 
upon ;  yet  if  a  change  comes  over  my  pros- 
pects I  hope  you  will  not  find  me  downcast 

and  disheartened." 

« 

Early  in  March,  1849,  a^er  some 
delay,  but  with  short  notice  at  the  last, 
he  left  Mexico  with  a  party  of  eighteen 
besides  muleteers,  all  mounted  and  fully 
armed,  for  the  ride  of  five  hundred  miles 
to  San  Bias  on  the  western  coast.  The 
journey  was  not  without  inconveniences, 
such  as  sleeping  on  the  ground  in  the 
open  air,  and  especially  from  the  fa- 
[142] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

tigue  of  being  in  the  saddle  at  midday 
under  a  blazing  sun ;  but  he  was  not  a 
novice  and  could  not  see  but  he  bore 
fatigue  as  well  as  the  others,  though  he 
had  never  realized  his  age  so  much  as 
on  this  occasion  when  he  was  treated 
with  all  the  consideration  and  respect 
he  could  desire  as  the  father  of  the  party. 
He  did  not  lose  the  opportunity  to  record 
with  his  pencil  some  of  the  interesting 
objects  on  the  route. 

Arriving  in  San  Francisco,  the  new 
Eldorado,  by  steamer  after  a  voyage  of 
seven  days,  repeating  his  former  expe- 
riences, Mr.  Coit  again  found  himself 
in  a  novel  environment,  among  strangers, 
far  from  home,  in  perilous  times,  and 
was  enrolled  as  one  of  the  modern  Ar- 
gonauts and  an  "  original  forty-niner." 
Information  received  in  Mexico  had 
prepared  him  to  find  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  were  "  beside  them- 
selves on  this  California  gold  business." 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

Multitudes,  deluded  by  the  vain  hope  of 
growing  rich  in  a  day,  poured  into  Cal- 
ifornia by  the  overland  route,  by  the 
isthmus,  or  by  the  long  voyage  round 
Cape  Horn.  All  means  of  transporta- 
tion for  those  coming  or  returning  were 
overcrowded;  the  prices  of  all  com- 
modities were  inordinately  high ;  and 
thousands  of  disappointed  adventurers, 
stricken  with  disease,  and  left  penniless, 
without  shelter,  food,  or  clothing,  were 
unable  to  return  to  their  homes. 

There  was,  of  course,  another  side  to 
this  picture  of  disappointment  and  suf- 
fering among  the  pioneer  gold  hunters, 
and  Mr.  Coit  names  as  examples,  among 
many  successful  ones,  some  of  his  own 
acquaintances  who  by  good  luck  in  the 
"diggings"  had  drawn  prizes  in  the 
lottery,  or  by  wise  foresight  in  buying 
land  and  building  houses,  had  in  a  short 
time  acquired  fortunes  that  were  re- 
garded as  very  large ;  yet  it  remained 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

true  that  in  the  scheme  of  the  California 
lottery  there  were  a  few  brilliant  prizes, 
and  many  smaller  ones,  but  that  the 
greater  number  were  blanks. 

Mr.  Coit's  habits  of  prudence,  tem- 
perance, and  self-control,  strengthened 
by  his  years,  his  experience  in  time  of 
danger  and  disturbance,  and  by  his  sense 
of  moral  and  religious  obligation,  kept 
him  clear  from  the  manifold  misfor- 
tunes and  pitfalls  that  entrapped  and 
ruined  multitudes  of  men,  both  the 
young  and  the  old. 

Among  those  who  had  been  fortu- 
nate in  the  gold  fields,  or  lucky  in 
speculation  or  gambling,  vice  and  dis- 
sipation of  all  kinds  were  prevalent. 
In  the  absence  of  an  efficient  govern- 
ment and  adequate  police  protection, 
desperadoes  and  lewd  fellows  of  the 
baser  sort,  fearing  not  God  and  regard- 
ing not  man,  not  only  menaced  —  they 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

outraged  the  property,  the  persons,  and 
the  lives  of  peaceable  citizens. 

In  the  summer  of  1849  lawlessness 
and  open  violence  by  bands  of  ruffians, 
calling  themselves  "hounds"  or  "reg- 
ulators," had  increased  to  such  an  extent 
that  a  reign  of  terror  prevailed.  As  the 
police  were  incompetent  to  quell  the 
disturbance  the  respectable  citizens,  al- 
most to  a  man,  organized  themselves  as 
a  committee  of  safety  for  self-defense, 
patroled  the  streets  day  and  night  with 
armed  men,  hunted  down  and  arrested 
the  marauders,  established  a  criminal 
court  with  a  judge  and  jury,  and  exe- 
cuted summary  justice  until  safety  and 
order  could  be  restored.  These  meas- 
ures for  self-protection,  though  without 
the  sanction  of  the  law,  commended 
themselves  to  right-minded  men  as  en- 
tirely justifiable  under  the  then  existing 
circumstances,  and  were  vindicated  by 
the  results. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

Mr.  Coit  yielded  to  no  temptation  to 
engage  in  speculations,  but  confined 
himself  strictly  to  his  own  business, 
which,  while  it  imposed  grave  respon- 
sibilities, left  him  leisure  to  increase  the 
number  of  his  sketches  that  are  now 
valuable  as  historical  records  of  the  early 
days  of  San  Francisco.  He  lived  a  re- 
tired life,  and  as  economically  as  was 
possible  when  the  prices  for  even  small 
articles  in  daily  use  were  enormous. 
Milk,  for  example,  was  seventy-five 
cents  a  quart ;  washing,  six  dollars  a 
dozen  ;  common  laborers  demanded  six 
dollars  a  day ;  a  woman,  "  to  oblige," 
charged  twenty-five  cents  a  yard  for 
running  up  seams  of  cotton  cloth,  but 
could  afford  to  do  no  more  at  the 
price !  Clothing,  food,  and  rent  were 
high  in  proportion. 

The  town  was  a  great  tinder-box, 
with  no  protection  whatever  against 
fire,  so  that  Mr.  Coit  was  in  constant 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

dread  of  a  general  conflagration,  which 
after  a  few  months  came,  and,  thrice 
repeated,  brought  ruin  to  hundreds  of 
merchants. 

Altogether,  the  lot  of  a  "  forty-niner," 
especially  if  he  desired  to  do  his  business 
in  peace  and  quietness,  was  not  a  happy 
one.  There  was  no  congenial  society. 
Tidings  from  home  were  infrequent, 
and  the  mails  from  the  Atlantic  coast, 
coming  but  once  a  month,  were  long 
on  the  route.  On  August  21  Mr.  Coit 
reported  the  mail  as  arrived,  and  "  after 
waiting  two  days  and  making  sundry 
useless  efforts  to  get  through  the  throng 
pressing  about  the  post-office  for  letters, 
I  have  at  last  succeeded  in  getting  yours 
of  June  25,  with  the  best  of  news,  that 
you  are  all  well !  "  Almost  sixty  days 
from  Norwich ! 

At  about  the  same  time  he  wrote  to 
Mr.  Gilman: 

[148] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  per  last 
steamer  your  favor  of  June  28,  enclosing  a 
most  unexpected  letter  from  my  sister  Kings- 
ley,  and  no  less  gratifying  than  unexpected, 
informing  me  of  the  improved  state  of  her 
health,  and  that  Mr.  Kingsley  and  the  chil- 
dren were  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  greatest 
of  blessings.  I  have  replied  to  her,  and  as 
it  occurs  to  me  that  sister  Eliza  and  the  girls 
may  be  interested  in  a  brief  account  of  the 
strange  and  unexampled  state  of  things  here 
I  leave  the  letter  open  for  their  perusal.  .  .  . 
Tell  them  that  my  thoughts  and  affections 
turn  more  than  ever  towards  home,  and  that 
I  trust,  with  the  blessing  of  a  kind  and 
watchful  providence  we  may  meet  again  ere 
long,  bound  to  one  another  by  stronger  ties 
than  ever." 

Almost  all  of  his  letters  conveyed 
salutations  and  greetings  to  his  friends 
and  kinsmen,  mentioning  them  by 
name,  as  in  the  following: 

"  Remember  me  to  neighbor  Thomas ; 
tell  him  to  hold  on  a  little  longer  and  he  will 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

see  me  again  at  my  old  stand  in  the  garden 
and  fruit  yard,  and  further  that  I  shall  have 
a  good  long  yarn  to  spin  for  him.  Remem- 
ber me  also  to  George  and  Hannah  Ripley, 
and  tell  George  I  shall  be  right  glad  to  take 
him  by  the  hand  again  one  of  these  days, 
not  very  remote,  I  trust.  My  love  to  my 
dear  Aunt  Lathrop,  also  to  dear  cousin  Mary 
Ann  Woodhull  and  Elizabeth." 

His  own  concerns  prospered,  and  in 
May,  1850,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  as 
follows : 

"  It  is  gratifying  to  perceive  that  the 
prompt  manner  in  which  the  business  en- 
trusted to  me  has  been  conducted  is  now 
somewhat  more  advantageous  than  in  the 
early  days  of  my  being  here.  It  is  further 
gratifying  to  reflect  that  in  the  rather  large 
transactions  for  my  Mexican  friends  the  past 
year,  not  only  has  no  fault  or  objection  been 
made,  but  the  most  entire  satisfaction  ex- 
pressed; neither  has  the  smallest  error  oc- 
curred in  my  accounts  rendered. 

"  Indeed,  I  should  have  filled  the  station 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

of  principal  for  so  long  a  mercantile  life  to 
little  purpose  were  I  now  unable  to  perform 
the  duties  of  an  agent  with  tact  and  efficiency . 
I  nust  tell  you  that  I  now  consider  it  exceed- 
ingly fortunate  that  my  friends  in  New  York 
did  not  accept  the  proposition  I  made  to 
them.  It  would  have  involved  me  in  great 
responsibilities,  given  me  hard  labor  with 
many  annoyances,  and  the  uncertainty  of 
giving  satisfaction. 

"  As  it  is,  I  am  entirely  my  own  master, 
which,  with  one  of  my  age  and  habits,  is 
something,  at  least;  and  then  I  have  an  ex- 
ceedingly easy  position  as  to  labor,  with  no 
responsibilities  that  I  am  unequal  to  or  afraid 
to  grapple  with ;  while  in  a  pecuniary  point 
of  view  I  certainly  have  lost  nothing." 

The  letters  that  he  received  at  this 
time  from  his  friends  in  Mexico  were 
of  unusual  interest,  covering,  as  he 
wrote,  bills  of  lading  of  $70,000  in 
gold  and  silver  coin  to  his  address, 
making  him  the  largest  consignee  on  the 
steamer's  manifest.  He  goes  on  to  say : 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  What  a  strange,  eventful  life  this  of  mine 
has  been  !  Do  you  not  sometimes  think  so, 
dearest  ?  And  the  last  chapter  in  it  is  the 
most  strange  of  all !  But  little  more  than 
two  years  ago,  long  retired  from  all  inter- 
course with  men  of  business,  and  lost  sight 
of,  or,  if  thought  of,  perhaps  considered  in- 
competent, or  already  too  old  for  an  active 
life  ;  without  credit  or  property,  or  compara- 
tively none  ;  submitting  rather  from  necessity 
than  choice  to  much  irksome  toil  and  labor 
to  which  I  was  unaccustomed,  and  now  how 
changed  !  Enjoying  the  unlimited  confidence 
of  mercantile  houses  of  very  high  standing  in 
the  world  whose  acquaintance  is  quite  recent 
and  accidental,  among  others  the  Rothschilds; 
with  the  control  of  large  specie  funds,  and 
credits  on  different  parts  of  the  world  ;  hand- 
ling gold  coin  and  gold  dust  with  as  much 
sang  fr oid  as  I  did  my  garden  seeds  a  little 
time  ago  !  I  say,  are  not  these  rapid  changes 
and  contrasts  truly  astonishing  ?  How  won- 
derfully has  an  ever  presiding  and  gracious 
providence  watched  over  me  and  directed  all 
my  footsteps  for  good  ! " 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

In  the  first  year  of  his  residence  in 
San  Francisco  the  church  buildings 
were  of  the  most  primitive  construc- 
tion, scarcely  more  than  rough  sheds ; 
but  he  continued  his  habit  of  regular 
attendance  on  public  worship,  giving 
the  preference  from  associations  at 
home  to  the  Congregational  church, 
but  finding  on  the  whole  greater  satis- 
faction in  the  Episcopal  church,  where 
he  listened  to  — 

"  capital  sermons  from  the  Reverend  Flavel 
S.  Mines,  whom  I  have  been  much  in  the 
habit  of  going  to  hear  of  late.  The  fact  is, 
I  feel  a  little  more  at  liberty  to  do  so  here 
than  I  should  at  home,  and  I  go  where  I 
can  hear  the  best  preaching,  and  be  most 
edified  and  instructed.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  uniformly  impressive  and  orthodox 
preachers,  as  an  Episcopalian,  I  have  ever 
heard." 

In  January,  1851,  he  wrote: 
"  My    health    here    has    been   uniformly 
good.     I  don't  know  how  frequently  it  has 

[153] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH   COIT 

been  remarked  within  the  last  six  months, 
'  Why,  how  well  you  are  looking  ! '  This, 
it  will  be  observed,  is  to  a  person  on  the 
wrong  side  of  sixty." 

His  pleasant  intercourse  in  Liverpool 
with  his  relations,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George 
M.  Woolsey,  has  already  been  referred 
to.  In  September,  1851,  he  wrote  to 
his  wife : 

"  So  your  uncle  Woolsey  has  been  taken 
from  us.  I  saw  it  was  to  be  so,  and  your 
letter  did  not  greatly  surprise  me,  though  it 
makes  me  sad  to  think  that  I  shall  no  more 
see  him  and  enjoy  his  refined  society  and 
gentlemanly  hospitality,  which  very  few  in- 
deed have  the  knowledge  and  the  tact,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  means,  to  make  so  de- 
lightfully agreeable,  as  he  had,  though  the 
mantle  of  the  father  seems  to  have  fallen 
on  the  son." 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
business  of  buying  gold  dust  could  long 
continue  to  be  profitable.  As  more 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

coined  money  came  into  circulation 
prices  inevitably  equalized  themselves ; 
and  such  stories  as  that  of  Indians  giving 
for  Spanish  silver  dollars  their  weight 
in  gold  dust  (sixteen  to  one),  or  even 
of  gold  dust  being  sold  for  eight  silver 
dollars  an  ounce  troy,  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  fabulous. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Coit  had  acquired 
sufficient  capital  to  enable  him  to  en- 
gage for  his  own  account  in  business, 
the  details  of  which  are  not  disclosed 
in  his  letters,  for  long  experience  had 
taught  him  the  wisdom  of  keeping  his 
own  counsel  in  several  different  lan- 
guages. Even  to  his  wife,  under  in- 
junctions of  secrecy,  he  did  not  reveal 
all  that  he  was  doing.  But  there  is  no 
doubt  that  he  made  considerable  invest- 
ments in  buildings  and  land.  In  March, 
1851,  he  wrote: 

"  I  am  now  daily  looking  for  the  arrival 
of  certain  iron  ware  houses  which  were  or- 

[•55] 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH    COIT 

dered  from  England  more  than  a  year  ago. 
They  were  planned  by  me  for  certain  friends 
of  mine  who  propose  to  erect  them  as  soon 
as  they  arrive.  They  are  very  large,  entirely 
of  iron,  and,  of  course,  fire  proof,  and  when 
put  up  will  be  the  most  extensive  and  com- 
modious buildings  for  storage  that  exist  here. 
It  is  this  business  that  is  keeping  me  here, 
and  until  it  is  finally  disposed  of,  I  mean 
turned  over  to  other  parties,  I  cannot  leave." 

In  these  buildings,  which  arrived  and 
were  erected  in  the  ensuing  summer, 
and  in  the  lands  and  wharves  connected 
with  them,  Mr.  Coit  had  a  quarter 
interest.  As  they  were  immediately 
rented  at  the  rate  of  $96,000  per  an- 
num, at  which  rate  they  would  pay  for 
themselves  in  a  short  time,  the  invest- 
ment promised  to  be  highly  profitable. 
Although  they  were  believed  to  be  fire- 
proof, care  was  taken  to  erect  the  struc- 
tures beyond  the  line  of  exposure  from 
such  great  conflagrations  as  had  already 
visited  San  Francisco.  But  in  avoiding 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

one  danger  another  was  incurred,  for 
the  sand-bluffs  on  which  they  were 
built,  like  the  sand  in  the  parable,  were 
an  unstable  foundation,  and  when  the 
rain  descended  and  the  floods  came,  and 
the  winds  blew  and  beat  upon  them, 
they  fell,  and  great  was  the  fall  thereof. 
Mr.  Coit  suffered  some  loss  and  was 
disappointed  in  his  expectations,  and 
being  satisfied  with  what  he  had  gained 
from  other  sources,  did  not  care  to  re- 
main to  repeat  the  experiment.  He 
therefore  closed  his  interests  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  to  the  great  joy  of  his  wife, 
his  children,  and  his  friends,  after  an 
absence  of  more  than  four  years,  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Norwich  in  the 
summer  of  1852. 

The  following  letter  to  his  wife  closes 
the  story  of  his  life  in  California : 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  Sept.  13,  1851. 

"  Libby's  nice  little  note  [his  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  aged   fourteen    years]  was    very 

[157] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

gratifying,  though  I  must  tell  her  I  don't 
quite  approve  of  writing  letters  that  have  so 
many  miles  to  go  on  note-paper.  A  good 
honest  sheet  of  letter  paper  would  be  more 
to  the  purpose.  By  the  by,  her  hand  writing 
is  forming  very  prettily  indeed.  I  have  seen 
nothing  like  this  before. 

I  hope  she  had  a  nice  visit  in  New  Lon- 
don. I  remember  perfectly  the  first  visit  I 
made  there  when  very  much  younger  than 
she  is,  with  my  father  and  mother  in  the 
chaise  with  the  little  bobtail  mare,  when  it 
took  half  a  day  to  drive  there  over  a  hilly 
road. 

I  am  glad  you  speak  so  highly  of  our  New 
London  cousins  [the  families  of  Robert 
Coit,  and  Mrs.  Nancy  Coit  Learned],  and 
that  you  are  disposed  to  keep  alive  your 
intercourse  by  frequent  interchange  of 
visits." 

That  Mr.  Coit  was  gratified  to  hear 
twenty  years  after  his  return  that  his 
early  sketches  were  still  appreciated  in 
San  Francisco  appears  by  the  following 
letter  to  his  sister: 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

"  I  don't  know  whether  you  are  aware 
that  when  Daniel  Oilman  left  here  to  go  to 
San  Francisco  I  put  into  his  hands  a  number 
of  pencil  drawings  of  that  city  and  its  sur- 
roundings which  I  had  taken  with  some 
degree  of  care  when  I  was  there,  and  of 
course  in  its  very  early  history.  Well,  I 
have  recently  received  from  Daniel  a  most 
enthusiastic  account  of  the  reception  of  these 
drawings.  They  were  admitted  on  all  hands, 
by  those  most  capable  of  judging,  as  being 
perfectly  true  and  withall  valuable ;  nothing 
short  of  his  letter  will  give  you  any  proper 
idea  of  the  estimation  in  which  they  were 
held ;  I  sent  the  letter  to  Harriet,  but  I  can 
give  you,  till  you  have  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  that,  The  San  Francisco  Bulletin, 
which  has  an  article  sufficiently  minute  and 
commendatory  of  them." 

The  reader  of  these  pages  is  now  fa- 
miliar with  "  some  of  the  incidents  of 
an  eventful  life,"  not  the  least  remark- 
able of  which  was  Mr.  Coit's  experience 
in  Mexico  and  California.  Few  men 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

past  the  age  of  sixty  make  a  hazard 
of  new  fortunes  in  a  strange  country 
as  successfully  as  he  did.  Fewer  still, 
after  the  vicissitudes  of  a  strenuous  life, 
are  permitted  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  to  "  rest  and  stand  in  their  lot 
to  the  end  of  their  days." 

In  the  chances  and  changes  of  his 
business  career,  and  as  a  great  traveler, 
he  had  suffered  many  things  on  the  land 
and  on  the  deep.  He  had  seen  the  most 
sublime  scenery  of  Switzerland  and 
South  America,  and  the  masterpieces 
of  art  in  the  galleries  of  Europe.  He 
had  lived  for  years  amid  scenes  of  polit- 
ical turmoil  and  violence  and  of  disas- 
trous earthquakes  and  conflagrations. 
Foreign  travel  had  no  longer  any  attrac- 
tions for  him,  and  having  reached  the 
haven  to  which  he  had  long  looked 
forward,  he  was  contented  at  last  in  the 
halcyon  days  of  peace  and  tranquillity 
to  say,  as  his  father  had  said  forty  years 


DANIEL   WADS  WORTH    CO  IT 

before,  "  Norwich  remains  a  more  suit- 
able residence  for  the  old  than  for  the 
young  whose  enjoyment  is  in  action, 
but  at  my  time  of  life  quiet  and  ease 
constitute  the  principal  part  of  my 
enjoyment." 

But  in  his  retirement  he  was  by  no 
means  idle  or  inactive.  On  the  con- 
trary, having  increased  means,  he  engaged 
with  enthusiasm  in  the  improvement  of 
the  family  mansion,  its  gardens  and  its 
meadows,  and  in  the  erection  of  glass 
houses  for  fruits  and  flowers.  In  these 
houses  he  might  be  found  in  winter 
regulating  their  temperature,  and  ex- 
posure to  sun  and  light ;  and  when  he 
was  well  advanced  in  years  he  was  a 
familiar  figure  on  a  summer  day  super- 
intending his  garden  work,  sheltered  by 
a  broad-brimmed  Panama  hat  that  he 
had  brought  from  Mexico,  or  delving 
like  banished  Adam  in  the  soil  with  his 
ii  [161] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

own  hands.  Coming  into  the  house  for 
a  brief  rest  he  responded  quickly  to 
slight  refreshment,  and  then,  after  re- 
turning to  his  occupation,  he  would 
reappear,  immaculate,  at  dinner  time, 
prepared  for  its  full  enjoyment. 

He  paid  liberal  wages  and  expected 
faithful  service,  but  for  a  lazy  man  or  a 
shirk  he  had  no  use.  Going  to  his  gar- 
den one  morning  he  found  a  man  whom 
he  hired  by  the  day  comfortably  resting 
under  a  convenient  tree.  As  Mr.  Coit 
approached  hastily  and  with  some  in- 
dignation, the  man  said,  "  I  saw  you 
coming,  sir,  but  I  did  not  go  to  work ; 
it  is  a  very  hot  day,  and  I  was  tired." 
Said  Mr.  Coit,  in  telling  this  story,  "  I 
respected  that  man.  Had  he  picked  up 
his  spade  and  gone  to  work  my  feelings 
would  have  been  very  different !  "  This 
fairly  illustrates  Mr.  Coit's  disposition. 
He  knew  his  rights  and  could  maintain 
them ;  but  he  could  make  allowances 
[i6a] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

for  human  weakness,  and  was  charitable 
and  lenient  when  a  failure  or  an  error 
was  acknowledged. 

He  cultivated  choice  fruits  for  pleas- 
ure rather  than  for  profit,  and  used  to 
say  that  he  should  be  quite  satisfied  if 
cash  returns  equaled  the  amount  of  his 
coal  bills.  It  is  quite  safe  to  believe 
that  they  never  did,  but  in  such  pursuits 
he  found  abundant  and  agreeable  occu- 
pation. He  tested  and  tasted  different 
varieties  of  peaches  and  pears  and  grapes 
with  as  much  discrimination  as  a  con- 
noisseur might  bestow  on  rare  old  wines, 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  his  table  was 
abundantly  supplied  with  the  choicest 
productions  of  his  orchard  and  hot- 
houses. He  desired  to  have  his  guests  par- 
ticipate in  his  enjoyment  of  them,  and 
if  the  uneducated  palates  of  his  younger 
friends  made  them  wish  for  one  whole 
pear  that  they  knew  by  sight  and  by  name 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

rather  than  samples  of  a  dozen  that  they 
knew  not  of,  they  could  not  complain 
of  a  lack  of  generous  hospitality. 

Another  source  of  unceasing  pleas- 
ure to  the  end  of  his  days  was  in  the 
sketches  and  drawings  he  had  made  in 
South  America,  Europe,  Mexico,  and 
California.  When  house-bound  or  shut 
in,  the  time  passed  quickly  while  he 
was  arranging  and  finishing  them,  and 
using  them  as  illustrations  he  became 
eloquent  in  describing  the  places  and 
scenes  he  had  visited. 

The  paintings,  also,  that  he  had 
brought  from  foreign  lands  and  that 
adorned  his  walls  gave  him  continual 
enjoyment.  They  could  be  fully  ap- 
preciated by  those  only  who,  like  him- 
self, had  carefully  studied  the  works  of 
the  old  masters,  but  he  watched  with 
keen  interest  their  renovation  under  the 
hands  of  an  artist  skilled  in  such  work, 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

—  an  eccentric  Dutchman, — who  spent 
two  summers  under  his  roof  for  that 
purpose,  and  was  not  less  enthusiastic 
than  Mr.  Coit  in  admiration  of  them. 

In  1848,  while  he  was  in  Mexico, 
he  had  heard  with  sorrow  from  his  wife 
of  the  death  of  their  little  daughter, 
whom  he  had  left  when  she  was  but  a 
few  months  old ;  and  again,  after  four- 
teen years  they  were  deeply  grieved  by 
the  death  of  their  daughter  Elizabeth, 
the  wife  of  the  Reverend  H.  C.  Haydn. 
After  a  year  of  married  life  she  passed 
away,  leaving  an  infant  daughter  who 
bears  her  name  and  was  ever  regarded 
with  twofold  affection  by  her  devoted 
grandparents. 

Yet  again,  three  years  later,  in  1865, 
his  son  Daniel  became  the  victim  of 
disease  contracted  in  the  service  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission  in  the  War  for  the 
Union. 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

On  a  severely  cold  night  early  in 
1865  Mr.  Coit  and  his  family  were 
aroused  by  fire  in  their  dwelling.  While 
only  half  clad  and  almost  suffocated  with 
smoke,  notwithstanding  his  nearly  four- 
score years,  he  fought  the  flames  with 
the  good  judgment  and  intrepidity  of  a 
veteran  fireman. 

Among  the  burned  contents  of  the 
house  was  the  "Panama  hat"  that  we 
have  already  seen  in  the  garden.  Mr. 
Coit  prized  it  as  the  gift  of  a  friend,  and 
although  the  old  Mutual  Assurance  So- 
ciety did  not  pay  for  sentiment  it  could 
not  deny  that  its  remarkably  fine  text- 
ure gave  it  the  unusual  value,  if  tradi- 
tion may  be  believed,  of  one  hundred 
dollars. 

Greatly  to  the  gratification   of  Mr. 

Coit  and  his  wife,  his  sister  Eliza  (Mrs. 

Gilman)  and  her  daughters  coming  to 

Norwich  from  New  York  in  1 864  made 

[i661 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

their  home  near  his  residence,  and  af- 
fectionate, intimate  intercourse  between 
the  families  enhanced  the  happiness  of 
both  households. 

Although  Mr.  Coit  took  no  active 
part  in  politics,  and  never  held  political 
office,  he  was  always  an  interested  ob- 
server of  affairs  of  the  town  and  the 
nation,  and  especially  of  the  course  of 
events  before  and  during  the  War  for 
the  Union  in  which  his  two  sons,  grad- 
uates of  Yale  College,  served  their  coun- 
try with  honor,  —  Charles  Woolsey,  the 
elder,  in  the  Christian  Commission, 
and  Daniel  Lathrop,  in  the  Sanitary 
Commission. 

Mr.  Coit's  charities  were  free  from 
ostentation,  yet  he  hesitated  not  to  give 
his  name  and  influence  to  promote  a 
good  cause ;  as  in  1 875,  when  he  wrote 
and  signed  with  his  own  hand  a  sub- 
scription paper  in  behalf  of  an  unfortu- 
nate neighbor  who  was  in  danger  of 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

losing  all  he  had  by  the  foreclosure  of  a 
mortgage.  He  was  a  regular  attendant 
upon  public  worship,  a  liberal  supporter 
of  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, a  loyal  friend  of  its  ministers,  and 
by  his  quiet  influence  encouraged  every 
effort  for  the  repression  of  wickedness 
and  vice  and  the  maintenance  of  true 
religion  and  virtue. 

He  never  spoke  publicly  of  his  per- 
sonal religious  convictions,  and  seldom, 
if  ever,  so  far  as  is  known,  in  private, 
but  he  was  a  truly  devout  man,  scru- 
pulously conscientious  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 
In  his  later  years  he  was  accustomed  to 
read  the  scriptures  and  prayers  at  family 
worship.  On  one  occasion,  before  be- 
ginning his  devotions,  he  assured  his 
family  of  his  sincere  affection,  which, 
indeed,  they  never  had  reason  to  doubt, 
and  with  considerable  emotion  expressed 
[168] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT 

his  sorrow  for  his  occasional  impatience 
and  sharp  criticism  of  small,  juvenile 
improprieties  which  naturally  were  an- 
noying to  one  who  was  by  many  years 
the  senior  of  his  children.  The  inci- 
dent revealed  his  heart,  and,  as  one  who 
was  present  testifies,  was  truly  affecting. 
Love  for  them  made  him  solicitous  that 
their  lives  and  manners  should  be  in 
accordance  with  the  high  ideals  by 
which  he  had  long  governed  his  own 
life.  Not  every  man  would  have  yielded 
so  far  to  the  impulses  of  a  warm  heart. 

If  he  was  punctiliously  exact  in  his 
dealings  with  others,  he  demanded  from 
them  no  more  than  he  rendered  himself, 
and  so  far  from  being  censorious  or  quick 
to  take  offense  he  was  ready  to  attribute 
any  lack  of  courtesy  or  propriety  to  ig- 
norance or  oversight. 

Few,  if  any,  are  now  living  on  earth 
who  remember  hearing  Mr.  Coit  say 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

much  about  the  "  incidents  of  his  event- 
ful life."  Although  he  was  always  kind 
and  friendly  with  the  younger  genera- 
tion, by  reason  of  his  age  he  seemed  to 
them  very  superior  and  remote,  —  far 
more  interested  in  the  present  than  in 
the  past;  in  his  pears  and  peaches  than 
in  his  adventures  in  the  Alps  and  the 
Andes.  Sometimes,  however,  though 
not  very  often,  when  he  was  found  with 
his  portfolio  open,  taking  one  of  his 
drawings  as  a  text  he  grew  eloquent  in 
discoursing  on  the  scene ;  and  no  one 
who  ever  heard  him  tell  of  the  wonder- 
ful sagacity  of  his  favorite  pointer  dog, 
"  Don,"  could  forget  the  vivacity  with 
which  he  told  the  story. 

His  eldest  niece,  Elizabeth  Oilman 
(Mrs.  Thompson),  who  had  pleasant 
recollections  of  him,  wrote  from  Berlin 
in  1877  as  follows: 

"  Probably  no  one  remembers  more  —  I 
mean  among  the  nephews  and  nieces  —  than 
[170] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

I,  of  our  dear  uncle  Daniel,  of  his  delicate 
tastes,  his  perceptions  of  everything  beautiful, 
his  kindness  and  generosity  to  all  around, 
and,  in  later  years,  in  his  quiet  retired  life 
there  was  a  peculiar  charm  in  his  society. 
My  husband  used  greatly  to  enjoy  his  even- 
ing visits  on  the  doorsteps  under  the  big 
trees  in  conversation  upon  old  times  and  the 
present  with  one  who  had  been  such  a  careful 
observer  through  a  long  life." 

Another  quotation  from  his  brother's 
"Reminiscences"  is  interesting: 

"  One  point  I  cannot  omit  to  allude  to. 
I  refer  to  his  uncommon  facility,  clearness 
and  vivacity  in  narration,  whether  orally  or 
in  his  letters ;  some  of  which  I  hope  his  son 
Charles  may  be  able  to  get  together  in  a  form 
that  may  be  permanent.  Not  inclined  to  be 
garrulous,  and  never  boastful  or  egotistical, 
it  was  not  difficult,  in  the  family  circle,  to 
direct  his  attention  to  some  of  the  many 
scenes  of  life  and  adventure  through  which 
he  had  passed. 

"  His  observation  was  discriminating  and 
accurate,  his  memory  retentive  and  his  power 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

of  description  lively  and  picturesque.  He 
kindled  with  warmth  and  enthusiasm  in 
recalling  the  scenes  and  adventures  of  former 
days  and  of  remote  countries.  Whether  of 
shooting  in  the  stubble  fields  of  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  prairies  of  the  West,  —  whether 
in  the  picture  galleries  and  among  the  artists 
of  Europe,  —  whether  in  his  toilsome  travels 
over  the  Pampas  and  across  the  Andes  of 
South  America,  —  whether  of  perils  among 
the  giddy  passes  of  the  Cordilleras  and 
among  the  wild  tribes  now  occupying  the 
ruined  cities  of  the  Incas,  —  whether  of 
escapes  from  the  earthquakes  he  encountered 
during  his  long  residence  in  the  volcanic 
regions  of  Peru,  and  from  mutinous  crews 
on  board  the  treasure  ships  of  which  he  had 
charge,  —  whether  among  the  stirring  events 
in  our  conquest  and  occupation  of  Mexico, 
and  with  the  adventurers  and  desperadoes 
among  the  early  settlers  and  gold  hunters  of 
California,  —  or  whether  amid  the  tranquil 
and  domestic  occupations  of  his  later  years, 
literally  under  his  own  vine  and  his  own 
fig-trees  —  few  have  had  so  varied  and  so 
striking  experiences  to  relate,  and  very  few 

[172] 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH    COIT 

have  such  a  gift  of  awakening  the  interest 
and  carrying  with  them  their  listeners  in  the 
narration  of  their  adventures." 

Allusion  has  been  made  already  to 
the  benign  influence  of  his  parents  be- 
ginning in  his  childhood  and  continuing 
through  his  life.  He  himself  was  con- 
scious of  it,  for  in  writing  to  his  grand- 
daughter in  his  eighty-sixth  year  he 
said: 

"  If  1  myself  have  any  special  regard  for 
truth  I  must  in  great  means  attribute  it  to 
my  father  and  mother  who,  equally,  took 
pains  to  inculcate  it  on  their  children  as  the 
one  thing  needful  in  their  intercourse  with 
the  world." 

In  December,  18/1,  Mr.  Coit  wrote 
to  his  sister : 

"  I  am  quite  surprised  myself  by  my  out 
door  performances  to-day,  in  going  out  into 
the  woods  up  back  of  the  Winship  house,  to 
direct  the  men  in  collecting  leaves  and  cedar 
boughs  for  our  borders,  etc.  Is  it  not  a 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

blessing,  my  dear  sister,  this  sound  health 
and  activity,  and  real  enjoyment  of  life  at 
my  time  of  life.  The  exemption  from  all 
pecuniary  care  in  old  age  is  certainly  not  a 
small  blessing  of  itself,  and  which  I  feel  the 
more  from  contrast.  True  it  came  late  in 
my  case,  but  none  the  less  on  that  account 
should  be  the  thanksgiving  and  gratitude 
for  it." 

One  more  extract  from  a  letter  to  his 
son,  bearing  date  November  28,  1871, 
fitly  closes  this  chapter  of  his  life : 

"  This  week  is  eventful  in  my  own  case. 
The  twenty-ninth  inst.  will  commemorate  the 
completion  of  the  eighty-fourth  year  since  I 
first  breathed  the  breath  of  life,  in  the  house 
and  probably  in  the  very  room  where  I  write 
this.  How  strange,  how  passing  strange,  has 
the  course  of  this  long  life  been,  how  wonder- 
fully I  have  been  protected  and  guided  in 
those  strange  wanderings,  from  dangers  seen 
and  unseen,  through  adversity  and  prosperity, 
thro'  sickness  and  thro'  health,  and  now  at 
the  end  to  have  been  brought  out  into  a 
smooth  place,  the  very  spot  of  all  others  I 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

would  have  chosen,  in  the  enjoyment  of 
health  and  the  blessings  of  life  to  a  degree 
allotted  to  but  few  of  the  sons  of  men :  is 
not  here  cause  for  gratitude  ? 

"  I  regret  that  your  mother's  condition 
prevents  our  drawing  a  circle  of  friends 
around  us  on  Thanksgiving  alike  to  honor 
the  day,  and  this  old  family  mansion.  The 
day  will  be  celebrated  at  the  Gilmans'  where 
I  shall  be  found  should  nothing  intervene 
to  prevent." 

Thomas  Cole,  an  American  artist,  a 
friend  and  traveling  companion  of  Mr. 
Coit  in  Europe,  painted  a  series  of  alle- 
gorical pictures  known  as  The  Voyage 
of  Life.  The  first  represents  a  little 
child  attended  by  an  angel  guardian,  in 
a  flower-decked  boat  just  launched  upon 
an  unknown  river.  The  next,  a  youth, 
hopeful,  self-confident,  taking  the  tide 
at  its  flood  in  quest  of  fame  and  fortune. 
The  third,  a  man  of  mature  years,  tem- 
pest-tossed, almost  shipwrecked,  strug- 
gling against  storm  and  rapids. 


DANIEL  WADSWORTH    COIT 

Thus  far  we  have  followed  our  voy- 
ager, and  now  leave  him,  cheerful  and 
serene  in  his  eighty-ninth  year,  on  a 
calm  sea  under  bright  skies,  still  at- 
tended by  his  angel  guardian  who 
points  him  to  a  happy  harbor  and 
heavenly  mansions. 

In  the  beautiful  cemetery  on  the 
banks  of  the  Yantic  River  at  Norwich 
a  suitable  monument  is  inscribed  with 
these  words: 

DANIEL  W.  COIT, 

born  Nov.  29,  1787, 
died  July  18,  1876. 

"  But  what  things  were  gain  to  me, 
those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ" 


HARRIET   FRANCES, 

his  wife, 

born  Aug.  15,  1805, 
died  Oct.  25,  1878. 

So  he  giveth  his  beloved  sleep." 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

DANIEL   WADSWORTH   COIT. 
Dates. 

1787.  November  29.     Born,  Norwich,  Conn. 

1803.  Apprenticed  to  merchants  in  New  York. 

1808.  Began  business  on  his  own  account. 

1818.  September  27.     Sailed    from    New    York 

for  Peru. 

1819.  January  14.    Arrived  at  Lima. 

1820.  April.     Sailed   from    Guayaquil   for    Gib- 

raltar. 

1820.     September  27.     Arrived  at  Gibraltar. 
1820-22.      Traveled     in     Spain,     France,     and 

England. 
1822.     June.     Sailed    from    London    for    South 

America. 
1822.     October.     Arrived  at  Buenos  Ayres. 

1822.  December.     Crossed   the   Andes   to  Val- 

paraiso. 

1823.  December.     Arrived  at  Lima. 

1828.  June.     Sailed  from  Lima  for  New  York. 

1829.  May.     Sailed  from  New  York  for  England. 
1829—32.     Traveled  in  Europe. 

1832.  June.     Returned  to  Norwich. 

1833.  October.     Visited  Grand  Rapids. 

1834.  September  i.     Married    Harriet    Frances 

Coit. 

[177] 


DANIEL   WADSWORTH    COIT 

1834-41.    Lived  in  New  York  and  New  Rochelle. 
1841-47.    Lived  in  Norwich. 

1848.  January.     To  Mexico  for  How  land  and 

Aspinwall. 

1849.  March.     From  Mexico  to  San  Francisco. 
1849—52.     In  business  in  San  Francisco. 

1852.     June.     Returned  to  his  home  in  Norwich. 
1876.     July  1 8.     Died,  Norwich. 


UCSB  LIBRARY 


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